News for Legislation
House committee passes transportation package
In another major step for a comprehensive transportation funding package the House Transportation Committee passed out funding bills that money-wise are similar to the package passed by the full state Senate. Thanks to the many AGC members who contacted committee members in the days before the vo...
Posted on: 04/17/2015
Petition urges passing of a comprehensive transportation package
Help Keep Washington Rolling -- join us in urging Governor Inslee and the Washington State Legislature to pass a comprehensive statewide transportation package this legislative session. Our economy can’t wait any longer. We have large infrastructure needs all around the state and making necessary...
Posted on: 04/15/2015
House Democrats' budget features new capital gains tax
The House Democrats released their 2015-17 budget proposal last week with more revenue specifics than many had anticipated. House leaders said their $38.8 billion spending plan a nearly 13-percent increase over the last two-year budget would meet key requirements of the state Supreme Court’s McCl...
Posted on: 03/30/2015
AGC's BUILD PAC honors Senator Ann Rivers with 2015 Legislator of the Year award
During AGC’s recent Lobby Day in Olympia AGC Second Vice President Jake Jacobson (Osborne Construction) and Chief Lobbyist Jerry VanderWood paid a visit to Senator Ann Rivers to present her with AGC’s BUILD PAC 2015 Legislator of the Year award.
Sen. Rivers was previously announced as the recip...
Posted on: 03/30/2015
Orth, Berger testify against bid-listing bill
AGC is opposing legislation mandating the listing of many additional subcontractors at the time the public entity establishes the low responsive bidder.
Photo L-R: Duke Schaub Tymon Berger and Doug Orth prepare to testify before the Ways and Means Committee against the bid listing bill.
ESHB 1...
Posted on: 03/30/2015
Paul Mayo, Bob Adams testify in support of transportation funding plan
AGC members Paul Mayo of Flatiron Constructors and Bob Adams of Guy F. Atkinson Construction joined AGC lobbyist Duke Schaub in testifying before the House Transportation Committee last week in support of a comprehensive transportation funding package.
(Photo L-R: Bob Adams Paul Mayo and Duke S...
Posted on: 03/30/2015
DOR: Contractors pay sales tax on clean-up activities
The State Department of Revenue reminds contractors that sales taxes must be paid on janitorial services that are construction clean-up or preparation for turning a new building over to the owner. The DOR prepared this webpage describing when a retail sales tax is applicable for interior cleaning...
Posted on: 03/16/2015
Half-time in the Legislature: Transportation, workers' comp still alive
The State Legislature has reached the half-way mark of the 2015 session and some noteworthy bills – good and bad – affecting the construction industry are still on the move.
Technically the Legislature has reached the “house of origin cut-off date.” This means that for example a bill that was i...
Posted on: 03/16/2015
$15B transportation package takes big step in Senate
The $15 billion transportation package took a big step forward yesterday when the Senate voted out two of three funding measures. Late last week the Senate voted out all eight transportation-reform bills.
The bill that includes the 11.7-cent gas-tax increase and other funding measures SSB 5987 p...
Posted on: 03/03/2015
Vesting-rights bill passed by Judiciary Committee
Legislation (SB 5921) to prevent development rules from changing in “the middle of the game” has been passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Ashbaugh Beal partner Tymon Berger (photo right) testified on behalf of AGC before the House Judiciary Committee in support of the House version of th...
Posted on: 02/27/2015
AGC issues transportation-package action alert
AGC has issued an action alert to urge State Senate members to support the proposed $15B transportation-funding package. This package is comprised of eleven bills that include a number of critical state projects. The Senate is likely to vote on the package Thursday or Friday of this week. Click h...
Posted on: 02/24/2015
Bill would mandate multiple subs and suppliers added to bid lists
Click here to tell legislators to vote NO on this bill!AGC is opposing legislation that could add a dozen or more specialty subs to the list of those that must be included as part of the bid for public-works construction projects costing more than $1 million.
Photo: Jeremy Carroll of Dawson Con...
Posted on: 02/16/2015
Senate Transportation leaders unveil $15B funding and reform package
Construction of the SR 167/SR 509 Gateway I-5 JBLM corridor improvements and I-82 Yakima to Union Gap improvements are among the 104 projects that would be constructed via a $15 billion transportation package introduced last week in the State Senate. Funded primarily through a phased-in 11.7 cent...
Posted on: 02/16/2015
AGC backs slate of workers' comp reform bills
Citing real-world examples AGC Group Retro Director Lauren Gubbe recently described to the Senate Commerce & Labor Committee how current law and Labor and Industries (LNI) policy make it possible for some injured workers to receive more income on workers’ comp timeloss benefits than what they...
Posted on: 02/16/2015
Right ways and wrong ways to fund transportation
One of AGCs top legislative priorities is passage of a comprehensive transportation package to address congestion unmet preservation and maintenance needs and freight mobility.
One of the big questions is how to pay for a package. Governor Inslee recently introduced a carbon cap-and-trade mechan...
Posted on: 01/17/2015
AGC's Government Affairs Committee prepares for new legislative session
AGC’s Government Affairs Committee (GAC) recently met to set the stage for AGC’s involvement in the 2015 State legislative session which begins Jan. 12. Among the issues discussed and policy positions taken by the GAC are:• Prevailing wage Support legislation to eliminate requirements that app...
Posted on: 01/06/2015
Pension reform passage is culmination of years of labor and management cooperation
Thanks to a huge push by AGC of America and its members Congress recently passed legislation to revamp the multiemployer-pension program in an attempt to bolster plans that are in dire financial shape. Click multi-employer pension reform.
Posted on: 12/17/2014
Old E-Verify records to be deleted; employers must download historic records prior to Dec. 31
According to the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) effective January 1 2015 E-Verify transaction records more than ten years old will be deleted from the system. As a result employers will no longer have access in E-Verify to cases created prior t...
Posted on: 12/09/2014
Immigration: AGC supports earned path to legalization; says executive order makes bipartisan reform difficult
AGC of America released the following statement regarding the President’s Nov. 20 immigration executive order:For over a decade when the Bush Administration began its push for immigration reform through today AGC has supported comprehensive immigration reform. That support included an endorsement...
Posted on: 11/21/2014
New fiscal year, same old highway trust-fund problems
With October 1 marking the beginning of fiscal year 2015 the 31-member organization Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) urged Congress to find a way to pay for and pass a new long-term surface transportation measure as soon as possible. They cautioned that failure to act would lead to ano...
Posted on: 10/13/2014
WSDOT prepares for federal funding shortfall
Although Congress has failed to pass a long-term federal highway bill the U.S. House recently took another shot at it as last week it approved by a vote of 367 to 55 H.R. 5021 a $10.8 billion Highway Trust Fund patch which provides sufficient revenue to maintain current funding levels through May...
Posted on: 07/18/2014
Court strengthens insurer-paid defense component of contractors' liability policies
By John Riper Ashbaugh BealJust one day before departing for last week’s Fourth of July holiday the Washington Supreme Court unanimously decided a case that brings good news to Washington contractors and others who purchase liability insurance. The case is particularly welcome to AGC of Washingto...
Posted on: 07/07/2014
Korsmo, Moen host legislators to launch LEARN program
Senators Christine Rolfes (D-23) and Jim Honeyford (R-15) got up-close looks at construction projects thanks to hosts John Korsmo owner of Korsmo Construction and Michael Moen co-owner of G.H. Moen.
Sen. Rolfes saw Korsmo’s Suquamish Tribal Clearwater Casino Resort expansion project outside of...
Posted on: 06/24/2014
Gas-tax increase proposed in U.S. Senate
From AGC of America
With the balance in the federal Highway Trust Fund quickly being depleted to the point that it is projected to have insufficient revenue to pay states for ongoing construction activities within the next few weeks Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn) introduc...
Posted on: 06/20/2014
Report confirms the loss of transportation funds to compact
$30 million a year is being siphoned out of gas-tax funded transportation construction by a questionable compact that Washington State entered into with the Tribes in 2007 concludes a report by former Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag.
In 2007 the Legislature passed a bill authorizing the G...