The
U.S. Senate Nov. 10 unanimously approved legislation to repeal a federal
mandate that government agencies withhold part of their payments to contractors and added
an amendment to provide tax credits to companies that hire veterans.
The
U.S. Senate Nov. 10 unanimously approved legislation to repeal a federal
mandate that government agencies withhold part of their payments to
contractors, reported the
Engineering News-Record. The
House approved a version of the bill Oct. 27.
However, the Senate added an amendment to provide tax credits to companies that
hire veterans, so the bill must go back to the House for another vote. The bill
is expected to pass the House, and President
Barack Obama
indicated he will sign the amended bill. Read the full story
here.
The
Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors-National Association and the Mechanical
Contractors Association of America have been focused on grassroots efforts with
members and legislators to repeal the withholding bill.
In
addition to the withholding repeal, the legislation provides a $5,600 tax
credit for each veteran a company hires who has been unemployed for at least
six months, the
Los Angeles Times reports. Companies also
would be offered a $9,600 tax credit for hiring out-of-work veterans with
service-related disabilities. Read the full story
here.
Unemployment
among the youngest veterans, age 18-24, was 30 percent in October 2011,
according to a
Businessweek.com report, up from 18.4
percent a year ago. The overall U.S.
unemployment rate is at 9 percent. Read more about this story
here.
“An
overwhelming bipartisan majority of senators understand that repealing the 3
percent tax withholding mandate is essential to boosting economic growth,” said
Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General
Contractors of America. “With construction activity down by $400 billion and
the industry’s unemployment rate at 13.7 percent, the last thing construction
employers need is to be forced into giving interest-free loans to the federal
government. … As our members made clear in a recently released survey, many
firms will be better able to offer positions to the veterans this legislation
also supports without the enormous cost of this measure looming.”
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