Please, ladies and
gentlemen, don’t shoot the messenger. I don’t write the legislation, I just
report what is in it so your business can take advantage of the appropriations
if you so choose. Having said that, here is a breakdown of what is in the 155
page American Jobs Act of 2011, as introduced by the Obama administration,
which affects the construction industry, segment by segment.
If your construction industry group or
business would like a more detailed presentation of the provisions of this
proposed federal law, I am available to speak to your organization about it.
Just send me an e-mail at the address below proposing a time and location.
All Segments of
Construction
·
Buy
American iron, steel and manufactured goods
·
Employee
payroll tax cut from 4.2% to 3.1%
·
Employer
payroll tax cut from 6.2% to 3.1%
·
Zero
payroll tax on pay increases up to $50 million in increased wages
·
100%
first year write off for new equipment in 2011
·
50%
first year write off for new equipment in 2012
·
Tax
credit for hiring veterans unemployed 6 months or more increased from $4,800 to
$9,600
·
Tax
credit for new hiring of veterans unemployed 6 months or more of $5,600 and
$2,400 for new hiring of veterans unemployed 4 weeks to 6 months
·
Tax
credit of $4,000 for new hiring of any person unemployed for 6 months or more
·
$1.5
billion for job training, including registered apprenticeship programs
·
Prohibits
hiring discrimination against the unemployed
·
Requires
payment of Davis Bacon prevailing wages on any project receiving funding
Residential
Construction
·
Project
Rebuild appropriates $15 billion for rehabilitation of vacant and foreclosed
homes and neighborhood stabilization
·
Includes
homeownership assistance and homebuyer rehabilitation funding
·
Prohibits
use of funds for demolition of existing public housing
·
Prohibits
flipping of rehabilitated properties
·
Includes
requirements to hire a certain portion of labor force from the project vicinity
Commercial
Construction
·
School
Building Modernization: $25 billion for elementary and secondary school
buildings, plus another $5 billion for community colleges
·
Up
to 30% of $15 billion in Project Rebuild funds may be used for commercial
building rehabilitation that will help stabilize neighborhoods
Industrial
Construction
·
$6.5
billion for construction of a new nationwide public safety broadband network
Government
Construction
·
Increases
SBA surety bond guarantees from $2 million up to $5 million
·
$27
billion for highway and railway construction under current formulas
·
$4
billion for intercity and high speed passenger rail corridor construction with
100% federal share
·
$3
billion for public transit construction with 100% federal share
·
$2
billion for Amtrak construction upgrades
·
$6
billion for fixed bus guideway construction
·
$5
billion for competitive surface transportation construction grants
·
$10
billion initial funding for American Infrastructure Financing Authority to
provide direct loans or loan guarantees financing infrastructure construction
projects which can repay by means of tolls, user fees or other dedicated
revenue sources in 35 years or less
