BYRNE WINS SPECIAL 1ST DISTRICT ELECTION 

Former Republican state Sen. Bradley Byrne of Fairhope won the 1st Congressional District special election by a landslide on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Burton LeFlore 65 percent to 35 percent. Byrne succeeds U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, who resigned in August to accept a position with the University of Alabama System. Byrne will be sworn in Jan. 7 when the House returns to Washington, D.C.

Byrne was supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and his win can be seen as the first victory for business in the battle for party control, according to Roll Call. Byrne is opposed to Obamacare and will face long-term issues of deficits and entitlement spending. He said he will try to secure funding for a long-debated Interstate 10 bridge over Mobile Bay, deepen Mobile's shipping channel, and protect Austal USA's military contracts.

The election was a political comeback for Byrne who lost the 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary runoff against then-state Rep. Robert Bentley of Tuscaloosa who went on to win the general election. Byrne, 58, won every county in the district - Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia, Monroe and Washington counties, and part of Clarke County. Byrne, an attorney, former state school board member, and former chancellor of the two-year college system, promised to be a "conservative reformer." "You wanted change in Washington, and we're going to bring it to you," Byrne told supporters.

U.S. Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., is proposing consolidating or wiping out scores of tax breaks in order to promote different types of energy. Politico said this would be a radical makeover that would offer incentives for natural gas, nuclear power, and other low-carbon sources while ending other benefits popular with consumers. Baucus's draft legislation calls for simplifying and extending a convoluted patchwork of incentives while ending about $75 billion in tax breaks over the next decade. His plan would create two broader clean-electricity and fuel incentives that would be based on greenhouse gas levels, as determined by the EPA, according to Politico.

Baucus would use the net loss to businesses and individuals to help finance a reduction in the top corporate rate of 35 percent to below 30 percent. Politico said the clear winners would be electricity and fuel sources with low or zero greenhouse gas emissions, including new nuclear reactors. Plants that burn natural gas would gain an edge over coal. Individuals and businesses wanting tax breaks for making buildings, homes and appliances more energy efficient would lose those incentives, as would consumers of plug-in electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles.

"It is time to bring our energy tax policy into the 21st century," Baucus, said. "We need a system of energy incentives that is more predictable, rational and technology-neutral to increase our energy security and ensure a clean and healthy environment."

Politico said his proposal is unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon because the push for tax reform has stalled in Congress. His proposal would gut scores of incentives with broad bipartisan support among senators. The incentives would benefit natural gas facilities more than plants burning coal, echoing the Obama administration's climate strategy, and coal facilities that can lower their greenhouse gas emissions. Many current tax breaks end Dec. 31 anyway.

The General Services Administration is considering adding cost-reimbursable options to its supply schedules, according to a top agency official. Tom Sharpe, the commissioner of GSA's Federal Acquisition Service, said in a statement to Federal Times that the agency is conducting an assessment on "a wide array of issues, and will not be a short-term action."

He added that GSA's planned OASIS contract vehicle for professional services will offer a cost-reimbursable option available to agencies, and GSA plans to award the contract soon. Contracts on the GSA federal supply schedules currently use time-and-materials and fixed-price pricing terms. The General Services Administration could greatly increase its share of federal spending by adding cost-reimbursable options to its supply schedules, experts say. The move is partly a response to pressure from the Defense Department for more cost-reimbursable options, Federal Times said.

According to Project Management Knowledge, a cost-reimbursable contract is a variant of a contract that involves making a payment from the buyer to the seller in reimbursement for the seller's actual costs. Added to that is a fee that typically represents the seller's profit.

Department of Defense spending on the top 10 GSA contracts for professional services has fallen 47 percent over the last four years, even as spending through cost-reimbursable contracts has skyrocketed, she said. Spending by DoD components and military services on cost-reimbursable contract vehicles jumped from $11 billion in 2008 to $29 billion in 2012, according to Deltek.

Alabama's U.S. senators vote against budget  

Al.com (Gore 12/18) "Alabama's Republican Senators cast their votes with the minority Wednesday as lawmakers approved a two-year spending deal that will prevent a repeat of October's government shutdown. The measure passed 64-36, with both Sen. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby voting against the plan. Shelby said bill 'increases spending now on the empty promise that it will reduce spending later'. 'Nobody should believe that those cuts will occur later when this very agreement undoes the cuts that were just recently enacted. We need a budget that places government on a sustainable financial path. This deal doesn't come close', he said.

"Sessions has been one of the most outspoken critics of the cuts to military retirement. His efforts to introduce an amendment to do away with the cuts were unsuccessful and he said that was only one of the deal's problem areas. 'I do not believe this legislation is sound', Sessions said. 'I think it takes us down the road of eroding an individual's power to restrain spending'.

"Nine Republican Senators voted with the 55 Democrats and Independents to pass the budget deal. The plan, which came out of negotiations between House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., sets discretionary spending at $1.012 trillion in 2014 and $1.014 trillion in 2015. The bill doesn't include tax hikes or entitlement reforms.

"It also includes $63 billion in sequester relief over two years - split evenly between defense and nondefense programs - and reduces the deficit by $23 billion. Among the bill's most controversial provisions includes increasing the amount new federal workers will pay towards their retirement and decreasing the cost of living adjustment given to working-age military retirees. Those two proposals are expected to save $12 billion over the next decade. The measure, which overwhelmingly passed the House, now goes to President Barack Obama who has said he will sign it into law."

NAM files lawsuit to rein in federal contract actions   

National Association of Manufacturers (Lavoie 12/18) "Continuing the fight against forced speech and aggressive overreach, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA) have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) from compelling speech and violating the First Amendment as a result of its 'posting requirement' rule.

"A similar rule, put forth by the National Labor Relations Board, was struck down earlier this year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit due to a successful lawsuit brought by the NAM. This rule requires federal contractors to put up posters informing employees that they have the right to organize, picket and strike. 'The courts have already ruled that these posters amount to compelled speech and extend beyond the intent of the National Labor Relations Act - federal contractors deserve the same protection from this aggressive overreach', said NAM Senior Vice President and General Counsel Linda Kelly. 'While we would prefer that agencies simply adhere to existing law, the NAM and the VMA will utilize all tools at our disposal to protect manufacturers, including fighting and winning in the courts'.

"In a recent NAM/IndustryWeek survey, nearly 77 percent of manufacturers listed reducing the regulatory burden as a key part of a pro-growth agenda that will enable manufacturers to compete and create jobs. 'Protecting Virginia's 'right to work' status is integral to the mission of the VMA and the success of Virginia's manufacturers and contractors, and the OFCCP rule tips that delicate balance', said VMA President and CEO Brett Vassey. 'We're proud to join with the NAM to take our case to the courts where we expect another ruling in favor of the First Amendment'."

To read the complaint as prepared for filing, click here.

The Business Council of Alabama is the exclusive representative of NAM in Alabama.