AGC Sets 2009 Legislative Priorities
In preparation for the 2009 session of the Washington State Legislature the AGC Board of Trustees adopted the Government Affairs Council recommendations for its 2009 legislative priorities. Affirmative statements of significant issues AGC will work for or against during the 2009 Legislative Session the priorities listed below are intended to be a clear set of statements to AGC members the Legislature Governor and others of the issue goals that AGC believes are important enough to dedicate time and resources toward achieving.
Priorities may be altered from year to year to reflect relative importance of any particular issue or the political practicality of pursuing adoption of any proposal depending on the makeup of the Legislature or overall climate which could govern its reception by legislators. Yearly priorities will always reflect the underlying AGC Legislative Principles broader statements of principle which reflect the views of the AGC membership which were also adopted by the Board and posted on AGCs website www.agcwa.com.
AGC members with questions or who would like to participate in efforts to achieve these goals are encouraged to contact AGC Government Affairs Council Chair Gene Colin CEO of Ferguson Construction or AGC Director of Government Affairs Rick Slunaker at rslunaker@agcwa.com in the AGC Legislative Office in Olympia.
AGC 2009 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
Priorities may be altered from year to year to reflect relative importance of any particular issue or the political practicality of pursuing adoption of any proposal depending on the makeup of the Legislature or overall climate which could govern its reception by legislators. Yearly priorities will always reflect the underlying AGC Legislative Principles broader statements of principle which reflect the views of the AGC membership which were also adopted by the Board and posted on AGCs website www.agcwa.com.
AGC members with questions or who would like to participate in efforts to achieve these goals are encouraged to contact AGC Government Affairs Council Chair Gene Colin CEO of Ferguson Construction or AGC Director of Government Affairs Rick Slunaker at rslunaker@agcwa.com in the AGC Legislative Office in Olympia.
AGC 2009 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
WHAT AGC WILL WORK FOR:
- Providing sufficient resources to address critical transportation safety preservation and capacity needs.
- Developing financing mechanisms to support essential infrastructure investments needed to repair and replace aging facilities to support population and economic growth and to protect environmental quality for the state and its communities.
- Securing improvements in the Workers Compensation system which allow: employers employees and L&I to utilize final settlement agreements to close claims; bring certainty and predictability to the wage calculation process; and prohibit the use of workers compensation funds for non-workers compensation programs.
- Bringing Washington Unemployment Compensation law into conformity with federal requirements without treating contractors unfairly; and secure a workable method of returning surplus unemployment tax revenues to employers.
- Securing in the law recognition of a contractual and equitable right to receive fair compensation for construction work actually performed.
- Clarifying the recently enacted crane regulation law to make the law more practical while retaining protections for workers contractors and the public.
- Enhancing assistance available to employers and associations to provide innovative approaches for hearing conservation programs to protect their workers.
- Practical green building waste reduction and energy efficiency requirements for construction projects.
WHAT AGC WILL WORK AGAINST:
- Attempts to harm Retro programs by limiting flexibility of associations to provide services and benefits which meet their members needs or which interfere with contractual relationships.
- Environmental proposals which impose unduly negative burdens on contractors or which are not practical or economically and technically feasible.
- Budget proposals which divert funds from programs such as workers compensation unemployment insurance and public works for other purposes.
- Detrimental land-use laws such as vesting rights alterations which make development efforts more difficult and costly.
- Differing public construction procurement methods which are dependent upon the source of project funding.