Industry Groups Back Design-Build Measure

A House panel has heard industry officials' support for a bill that seeks to rein in lengthy short lists for federal design-build projects.

The measure, which Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) introduced in July, would bar one-step D-B procurements for projects of $750,000 or more. It also would require an agency head's sign-off for D-B short lists of more than five teams. There is no Senate bill yet, and Graves' proposal had just 11 co-sponsors on Dec. 9; but House federal workforce subcommittee Chairman Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) is one of the 11. After his panel's Dec. 3 hearing on D-B, Farenthold said, "There's a reasonable chance we could see some action on it next year."

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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