Weekly Update

Week of May 25, 2015

What You Need to Know About the Legislative Session

Legislature Adjourns Leaving Failed Opportunities and Special Session

The 2015 regular session of the Minnesota Legislature came to a chaotic conclusion this week with many major issues left unresolved or unsettled. The inability to come to agreement on a final Education Budget, and Governor Dayton's recent veto of the proposed bill, have set the stage for a yet to be determined Special Session sometime in mid-June. Adding to the chaos, the Governor has intimated that he may veto other spending bills that hastily passed in the final moments of the session in order to reset negotiations and request removal of some objectionable provisions contained in those bills.

Additionally, a small, $107 million capital bonding bill failed because it was not passed by the Senate until just a few minutes prior to the midnight adjournment deadline, leaving no time for House consideration. The pending Special Session may provide opportunity to resurrect the bonding measure and secure its passage due to the urgent nature of some of the items included in the bill that need funding.

Transportation Funding Left at Side of Road

The biggest casualty of the 2015 session was the lost opportunity for an infusion of new transportation funding. The conference committee assigned to negotiate HF4 could not complete its work because the overall budget negotiators could not agree on an approach to address the long-term needs. The resultant impasse leaves both the House and Senate transportation funding proposals temporarily parked in conference committee waiting for a possible 2016 resolution. The "lights on" bare bones transportation budget (SF1647) that was passed simply appropriates existing revenues and keeps MnDOT operating for the biennium. A small General Fund increase of roughly $30 million was provided to fund mostly local road and bridge projects and other MnDOT General Fund supported programs like Greater Minnesota transit and air and rail programs. The Public Private Partnership (P3) authorization was not enacted yet it remains a viable element of the conference committee discussion that will be re-engaged in early March of 2016, when the legislature is set to reconvene.

AGC Legislative Summary and Review

A more complete review of the results of the 2015 legislative session will be distributed in the coming days and posted to the AGC website.

For additional legislative information, contact Tim Worke at 651-796-2185.

Responsible Contractor Amendments Legislation Passes

AGC of Minnesota was the only contractor organization to actively propose and pursue changes to the Responsible Contractor Act (RCA) in the 2015 legislative session. The Legislature unanimously approved the AGC legislation (House 131-0; Senate 61-0) and the bill now awaits Governor Dayton's signature. The changes in HF1257 will do much to improve the RCA and will specifically help to elicit more consistent public administration of the law and provide clearer compliance directives to contractors. In spite of these improvements, look for lots of legal questions and issues that will come up over time due to the newness of the law and different interpretations by contracting authorities. The RCA remains a law that AGC believes is unnecessary, overly burdensome, and problematic for public owners and contractors.

A copy of the entire bill can be accessed here and a short summary is posted to the AGC of Minnesota website here.

2015 Member Directory Hard Copy

All AGC of Minnesota members will receive a revised version of the 2015 member directory within the next week or two. Our contract publisher incorrectly formatted a section of the files, which caused a section of the directory to have mismatched telephone numbers. Please disregard the old directory OR always consult the listing of members in the front of the book for correct numbers. The online version of the directory has been corrected.

Reporting Requirements Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

On Thursday, May 28, from 9:30 to 11:30 am, Monica Kelley with Gray Plant Mooty will review and facilitate discussion of employer reporting requirements under the ACA. This meeting is for employers with 50 or more employees who contribute to union Taft-Hartley Health and Welfare Plans and who must complete ACA reporting for the 2015 calendar year, including employees who get health coverage through a union plan. Monica will review reporting requirements, explain how the requirements apply to employers that contribute to Taft-Hartley plans, recommend and discuss information employers need to collect from Taft-Hartley plans, and help develop an information request form.

This meeting will be held at the AGC office and is free to attend. To help us gauge interest in this meeting, please register your attendance here.

UND Offers Asbestos Courses

In early June, the University of North Dakota Environmental Training Institute will offer various courses focused on asbestos identification, assessment, and management. Details are available here.

Urban Ventures Greenhouse Challenge -

All Volunteers Entered to Win a Visa Gift Card

The challenge continues! In addition to seven builders participating from PCL Construction Services, Inc., CliftonLarsonAllen has committed four builders to assist with the AGC of Minnesota 2015 Community Engagement Project. In mid-June, AGC staff and members will join forces with Urban Ventures to build a greenhouse in the Phillips Neighborhood of Minneapolis. Produce grown in the greenhouse will be sold to residents of the Phillips Neighborhood. We need more builders...we need your company to commit next! Contact Merry Beckmann at [email protected] or 651-796-2187 to register builders. More information about the project can be found here.

AGC Bookstore Monthly Featured Products -

Professional Mobile Crane Operations Program Participants Guide

Through its on-line bookstore, AGC of America offers monthly featured products, available at a discount to AGC members. A link to the bookstore is available through our home page, www.agcmn.org or athttp://store.agc.org?AffiliateId=AGCO254.

AGC's Professional Mobile Crane Operations Program is designed to assist the construction community as a whole to prepare for the certification requirement to reflect the provisions in the new standards. This student guide is designed to help participants become a better crane operator by learning safe and efficient practices. Upon completion of the program, participants will understand various operational and safety principles and practices that can be used every day. This program covers rules and regulations, site review and set-up, operations, conditions affecting operations, basic rigging and wire rope, maintenance and inspection, load charts, and crane types.

This item is available during the month of May at a 20% discount using coupon code PMC20.

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Associated General Contractors of Minnesota | [email protected] | http://www.agcmn.org

525 Park Street, Suite 110

St. Paul, MN 55103

651-632-8929