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While calling for a five year freeze in government spending in his State of the Union address, President Obama nevertheless also called for the need to invest in infrastructure.

The federal government increased construction spending in November, making it the third month in a row that investment has risen following serious drops in building activity over the summer, according to an article by the Associated Press.  Total spending has reached $810.2 billion, a 0.4 percent rise from the previous month.

Just prior to President Obama’s State of the Union speech –where he called for increased federal investment in areas of our economy, including transportation infrastructure – the House of Representatives passed a resolution to “transition” non-security spending for FY 2011 to FY 2008 levels. 

Yesterday the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held their organizational meeting to approve the Committee rules and oversight plan, as well as subcommittee chairs, ranking members and membership assignments. 

In a series of surprise moves, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it had withdrawn two separate proposed rules that would have had the potential to significantly impact the construction industry.

In the U.S. Senate Tuesday Senators introduced separate measures to repeal the Form 1099 paperwork mandate enacted in last year’s massive healthcare law, and to repeal the 3 percent withholding requirement on payments to government vendors. 

Following the State of the Union Address Tuesday evening, ��ѻ��ý called for a distinction between wasteful government spending and necessary infrastructure investments that are crucial to broad economic growth.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security recently released a revised version of its “Handbook for Employers: Instructions for Completing Form I-9.”  Release of the January 5th edition of the handbook comes just two months after an ��ѻ��ý-attended stakeholders meeting hosted by USCIS on the usability of the Form I-9 and the employment eligibility verification process.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it is withdrawing its proposed interpretation titled “Interpretation of OSHA’s Provisions for Feasible Administrative or Engineering Controls of Occupational Noise.” 

In an attempt to meet Republican calls for ending a regulatory environment that is stifling job creation and economic growth, President Obama on January 18 signed an executive order requiring all agencies to review federal regulations that are too burdensome.