By a vote in the House of 246-183, and in the Senate of 60-38, Congress has passed President Obama's economic stimulus legislation. Obama was watching on C-Span at his Hyde Park home as the Senator from Ohio returned to Washington, D.C. following his mother's wake to cast the deciding vote on the Senate floor at 10:47 p.m. Washington time.
The bill will be promptly enrolled, and delivered to President Obama, who is expected to sign it Tuesday in Colorado. His pen on the paper will begin the clock ticking on all the time limitations in the measure for awarding of construction contracts and expenditure of funds appropriated in the bill. The construction industry will be receiving contracts worth over $145.6 billion funded by this legislation, which the provisions of the bill require to be completed and paid for within two years.
President Obama also signed an executive order Friday encouraging federal agencies which will be spending this money to use project labor agreements on the major projects funded by the bill, favoring union contractors on those projects. The legislation also requires all contractors building any projects funded by the measure to pay Davis Bacon prevailing wages, to hire only citizens and aliens here legally to work on the projects, and to buy American steel and manufactured goods for use on these jobs.
Every estimator who has been paying attention is going to be unusually busy for the next five months or so putting sealed envelopes into the hands of federal, state and local contracting officers all over the country. Good luck to you all.
The bill will be promptly enrolled, and delivered to President Obama, who is expected to sign it Tuesday in Colorado. His pen on the paper will begin the clock ticking on all the time limitations in the measure for awarding of construction contracts and expenditure of funds appropriated in the bill. The construction industry will be receiving contracts worth over $145.6 billion funded by this legislation, which the provisions of the bill require to be completed and paid for within two years.
President Obama also signed an executive order Friday encouraging federal agencies which will be spending this money to use project labor agreements on the major projects funded by the bill, favoring union contractors on those projects. The legislation also requires all contractors building any projects funded by the measure to pay Davis Bacon prevailing wages, to hire only citizens and aliens here legally to work on the projects, and to buy American steel and manufactured goods for use on these jobs.
Every estimator who has been paying attention is going to be unusually busy for the next five months or so putting sealed envelopes into the hands of federal, state and local contracting officers all over the country. Good luck to you all.
