AGC Seattle District Report: District breakfast, Jan. 21 | Seattle schools on PLAs

Seattle District Breakfast: Working with the Port of Seattle
Registration is now open for our first breakfast meeting of the year. We have the honor of hearing from Jeffery Brown, Director of Aviation Facilities and Capital Programs who is responsible for leading the long-term capital development program at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and Nora Huey, Director of Central Procurement. Brown will give AGC members a first-hand report on upcoming airport expansion projects, and Huey will follow up with an update on recent changes in Port policies, and what contractors should know about working at the Port of Seattle. Register today!

Seattle Public Schools considers project labor agreements
AGC staff and members presented feedback to the Seattle Public Schools' Student and Community Workforce Agreement Task Force on December 4. Imposing a government negotiated Project Labor Agreement on any portion of capital-construction projects, including the recently passed $1.4 billion BEX-V Capital Levy portfolio, would be an historic change to contracting at Seattle Public Schools. Contractor concerns included negative impacts on the small employer community & minority-owned businesses, decreased competition and higher costs. Also discussed were non-PLA alternatives to reaching community workforce and contractor diversity goals. The task force will conclude its recommendation to the Seattle School Board on whether or not to impose PLAs early next year. If you are interested in participating in advocacy on this issue, please contact Sonja Forster.

PSCA's clean-fuel standard: opportunity for public comment
The Board of Directors of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency are considering new regulations with the goal of lowering greenhouse-gas emissions in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. The new rules outline increase in fuel costs by an estimated 57 cents/gallon by 2030 and cost consumers, businesses and are estimated to cost industry $1-2 billion for new vehicles, fuel supplies and infrastructure. Unfortunately, this cost comes with little to no improvement in air quality or lower greenhouse-gas emissions. Additionally, AGC is concerned that this "virtual gas tax" represents a significant increase in the per-gallon cost of gas, but without providing any additional funding for transportation improvements. In turn, this will make it harder to raise the actual gas tax in the future to fund important but currently unfunded projects like the Highway 2 trestle and the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River. The PSCA is hearing public comment on the draft rule on December 19 at the Washington State Convention Center or submit comment in writing to CleanFuels@pscleanair.org. For more information, email Sonja Forster.