DBIA’s mission is to provide the best resources available to help inform and empower our industry. In these uncertain times, that mission is even more important. As our communities fight the Coronavirus, we are working to find the best information available to help design-build teams navigate the unknown. This daily newsletter will provide the latest COVID-19 news for the AEC community.

Design-builders deliver in times of crisis and we will again.

If you have COVID-19 news impacting the AEC industry from your organization, state or community please email us.

National

Barrasso pushes for highway spending in next stimulus bill-Roll Call. As Congress prepares a plan to blunt the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least two senators are pushing for the surface transportation bill to be included in a stimulus package. Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., wants congressional relief efforts to include his bill (S 2302), which would authorize $287 billion in spending on roads and bridges over five years.

Pence urges construction companies to give coronavirus masks to hospitals-New York Post. “We urge construction companies to donate their inventory of N95 masks to your local hospital and forgo additional orders of those industrial masks,” Pence said at a White House briefing on the pandemic.

White House proposes $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package-Axios. The White House is asking Congress for a $1 trillion coronavirus relief and economic stimulus plan that would include industry-specific bailouts and payments to individual taxpayers.

State News

Florida

Emergency Public Contracting Procedures, Part 1: Miami-Dade County-The National Law Review. NLR examines emergency procurement processes and the impact on design-build in Florida. New public facilities needed to address the current pandemic could be procured under the CCNA’s design-build process without the need for a full competitive process.

New York

MTA borrows $1B to stave off impending coronavirus fiscal apocalypse-New York Post. The MTA will borrow $1 billion by the end of the week to bolster its bottom line as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on fare revenue, officials said Wednesday.

City asks New York state for use of Javits Center as ‘medical surge facility’-POLITICO. We’re going to have to identify places, maybe the Javits Center, maybe Madison Square Garden that can quarantine and isolate coronavirus victims.

Industry

Webinar: The Latest Developments on the Coronavirus and What that Means for the Construction Industry-AGC. On Friday, AGC CEO Steve Sandherr and additional national staff will provide an update on the coronavirus.

Construction Industry Pushes Back on Building Bans–Bisnow. Construction advocates in New York, Boston are pushing back against the growing call to halt all non-healthcare construction as the coronavirus pandemic has spread.

Turner Construction Response to COVID-19-Turner Construction. Turner has released their rules and guidelines in response to the ongoing situation. This includes monitoring supply chains and financial transactions as well as visitor restrictions and canceling non-essential meetings.

Construction Moving Projects Forward in the Face of the COVID 19 Coronavirus-JDSupra. Be proactive, not reactive. As the world pauses in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus, take the time to assess where you are now on each of your jobs, and evaluate how you can move your projects forward despite a potential disruption in labor and materials in the coming weeks.

Revised Dodge Data & Analytics construction forecast to be released in early April-Dodge Data & Analytics. We are currently assessing the economic implications of the crisis and looking to past economic cycles and events to gauge how our econometric models might react to the current crisis. We’ll host a brief customer webinar in early April to review how the starts forecast may be altered to reflect current events.