Chapter 520: Bits and Pieces

Updates will resume next week, but I thought this was interesting via my friend Troy from Solutions Twin Cities and a tumblr called Three Seven:

Deep Cuts

My co-worker Tu-Anh attended the AIA Grassroots conference in Washington D.C. last week to learn about and lobby for the inclusion of funding for building construction in the stimulus plan. Here is a brief report from the Senate session she attended.

The proposed Senate bill would make many important investments that support the design and construction industry:
+ $7 billion for design, construction and renovation of federal buildings, including $4.5 billion for energy efficiency
+ $10 billion for affordable housing, including $2.2 billion for green housing
+ $8.4 billion for mass transit
+ $4.2 billion for energy efficiency and conservation grants for cities
+ $1.6 billion for making schools and hospitals energy efficient

Last Friday night, a bipartisan group of Senators negotiated a compromise amendment that cuts about $110 billion from the bill. The compromise plan eliminates $16 billion for K-12 school modernization and $3.5 billion for modernization of higher education facilities that was in the original Senate draft bill. The plan also cuts $2 billion for federal buildings greening and modernization.

These two cuts represent half a million design and construction job opportunities cut out of the bill by the Senate.

Now, I realize that many people feel the magnitude of this bill is overwhelming, but is educational facility enhancement really the best place to start cutting? Has anyone been in a public school lately or remember theirs growing up? With many legislators sending their children to private schools, their image of what today’s public schools look like may be a bit skewed with visions of the private suburban monstrosities their used to. Even the school I attended, which was built as I entered 4th grade, is in dire need of repair and modernization. It is of the utmost importance that our youth are given the opportunity to learn in facilities that are equipped to properly prepare them for the challenges they’ll face in adulthood.

Aside from this, why cut portions of the bill that will most certainly create jobs? This seems counter-intuitive if the idea is to stimulate the economy and create opportunity.

Nice work guys. Please, keep it up.