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Register by April 9 to Guarantee Hotel Discount The 2011 ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Federal Contractors Conference will be held May 2-5, 2011, at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. This meeting is the only national event where contractors and federal agency personnel can meet in a collaborative forum to review federal construction contracting issues and trends from around the United States. These insightful and highly productive exchanges have solidified the need for both federal construction contractors and the federal construction agencies to share information on a wide variety of issues, foster better communication, and create real solutions.

After several long weeks of negotiations, the White House and House Republicans announced in the late hours of April 8 that they have agreed on a budget deal that would fund the government through FY 2011. The deal would cap 2011 appropriations near or below $1.050 trillion while cutting domestic and foreign aid by approximately $38 billion from the rate of spending at the beginning of this Congress. Additional details of the deal have not yet been released and it is unclear how deep the cuts will affect the major portions of Federal funding for construction projects nationwide.

As Congress continues to debate funding levels for FY 2011 and beyond, there have been several developments in the debate over the future of the Civil Works Program.

The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Counsel on March 16, 2011 issued an interim rule amending the FAR to implement section 811 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (Pub. L. 111-84). The provision requires Federal agencies to provide a written justification prior to awarding a sole-source contract in an amount over $20 million under the 8(a) program by the Small Business Administration (SBA).

ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s 92nd Annual Convention, held in conjunction with the 2011 CONEXPO-CON/AGG tradeshow, is on March 12-25 and will provide general and specialty contractors with the opportunity to gain the knowledge and expertise needed to survive and thrive in the coming year. The convention offers numerous sessions with a strong focus on the Federal construction market. 

ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ continues to urge Congress to repeal the 3 percent withholding requirement on federal, state and local government contracts.

May 2-5, 2011 | The Mayflower Hotel | Washington, DC The 2011 ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Federal Contractors Conference will be held May 2-5, 2011, at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. This meeting is the only national event where contractors and federal agency personnel can meet in a collaborative forum to review federal construction contracting issues and trends from around the United States.

On Wednesday, March 2, President Obama signed a stopgap funding bill into law that will keep the government running until March 18.  Although the House and Senate managed to set aside differences to prevent a government shutdown next week, there are currently major discrepancies between funding levels supported by the House, Senate and Administration. 

Amendment to restrict imposition of PLAs on FY 2011 work narrowly defeated

Amendment to Restrict Imposition of PLAs on FY 2011 Work Narrowly Defeated On February 16, Representative John Sullivan (R-Okla.) introduced legislation that seeks to ensure that federal contracts are awarded through open competition.