Engineering Influence from ACEC
Episodes
Friday May 28, 2021
The Government Affairs Update for May 28, 2021
Friday May 28, 2021
Friday May 28, 2021
Matt Reiffer joins the podcast to discuss the unanimous approval of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021 by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works earlier in the week.
Tuesday May 25, 2021
The Weekly Digest from ACEC
Tuesday May 25, 2021
Tuesday May 25, 2021
Welcome to the Weekly Digest, a round-up of what's happening this week at ACEC National. This week, we cover:
The Engineering Excellence Awards, taking place on June 17th. Register here.
ACEC's collaboration with Careers Building Communities.
Spotlight webinar: Guidelines for Handling a Cyber Security Breach on May 27th.
ACEC's Project Management 101 course, kicking off on July 13th is now open for registration.
The ACEC Research Institute is now holding its first-ever Annual Prize Drawing.
ACEC's letter of support for the Senate Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021
Friday May 21, 2021
Government Affairs Update for May 21 - Infrastructure Update
Friday May 21, 2021
Friday May 21, 2021
Matt Reiffer joined the program to update us on the current status of negotiations on an infrastructure package.
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Infrastructure funding is the central issue on Capitol Hill right now, with the President and Congress negotiating to determine federal investment levels for the next several years.
In the transportation sector, however, states and local governments actually invest more in infrastructure annually than does the federal government—about $170 billion to $146 billion, according to the latest figures.
In recent years, many states have responded to the need for repair and expand their transportation infrastructure by raising user fees, usually the state gas tax. Since 2010, 37 states have raised their gas tax, with the latest coming last week, when Missouri passed legislation to raise its 17-cent-per-gallon gas tax by 12.5 cents over the next five years.
Morgan Mundell, executive director of ACEC Missouri, came onto the program to talk about the campaign to win the gas tax increase.
Monday May 17, 2021
The Private Markets Update with Erin McLaughlin
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
ACEC welcomes Erin McLaughlin for a Private Markets Update for May, 2021.
Friday May 14, 2021
Government Affairs Update for May 14, 2021
Friday May 14, 2021
Friday May 14, 2021
On today's update, we welcome Dan Hilton from the advocacy team onto the program to talk about ACEC's international work with FIDIC and the new Memorandum of Understanding signed between ACEC, ACEC Canada and CNEC in Mexico. More information about the MOU can be found here.
Friday May 14, 2021
Duty to Defend: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Firm
Friday May 14, 2021
Friday May 14, 2021
Today on the Engineering Influence podcast, we’re going to talk about Duty to Defend. That might seem like a dry topic, but it can have a catastrophic impact on a firm if it isn’t handled properly.
In the driest of terms, Duty to Defend is A contractual obligation whereby one party, in this instance, the design professional, agrees to defend another party, generally an owner or developer against a covered third-party claim, thus incurring attorney's fees and costs.
To bring this issue to life and dive deep into the implications for engineering firms, Brett Stewart, who is the Risk Manager for the Design Professional unit of AXA XL, has joined us on the show.
Click here to download AXA XL's chapter on indemnity, which provides additional information on this issue.
Tuesday May 11, 2021
Tuesday May 11, 2021
On the Engineering Influence podcast, sponsored by the ACEC Life/Health Trust, ACEC Illinois Executive Director Kevin Artl discusses how his Member Organization worked to defeat a proposed bill that would have weakened the state's Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) law.
QBS is a central pillar of ACEC’s advocacy program. QBS is a competitive process in which public agencies evaluate and select consulting engineers based on their qualifications, and then the parties negotiate the project scope of work, schedule, budget, and fee.
QBS was originally passed on the federal level in 1972 and over the years its use has expanded to many states, which recognize that public safety requires contracting with the most qualified design firms.
Over the years there have been many challenges to QBS on both the federal and state levels and ACEC and its Member Organizations have been diligent in defeating them.