NECA Priorities Included in 2022 NDAA

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NDAA Passes Senate; Features Wins for NECA Contractors

The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a roughly $770 billion package to fund national defense programs and set the policy agenda at the Department of Defense, passed the Senate 89-10. It cleared the House earlier this month in a vote of 363-70.

The legislation provides $740 billion for the Pentagon and gives $25 billion to increase Biden's first defense budget request. The bill, which Congress takes up each year, also sets the policy agenda for the Department of Defense and other agencies.

Below are some highlights for NECA Contractors:

Authorizes more than $3.5 billion of additional military construction projects above the President’s Budget while incrementing $1.4 billion from other large projects in the budget request that were deemed areas of need
Repeals the preference for fixed-price contracts
Establishes pilot programs for the deployment of 5G wireless infrastructure on military installations
Expands eligibility for port development grants to include emissions mitigation and climate resilience measures such as electrification of ports and the use of hydrogen
Require the Department of Defense to update their military installations to consider microgrids as part of new construction projects
Ensures DoD Data Centers meet DOE energy efficiency goals

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Uncertainty Surrounds Build Back Better Bill

The Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, is under pressure from progressives, including members of his own leadership team, to put the 2,400-page Build Back Better bill up for a vote next week, even though Sen. Joe Manchin — a key swing vote — hasn’t yet said whether he will support proceeding to the measure. Centrist Democrats, however, say it’s not absolutely necessary that the climate and social spending package get a vote before Christmas, especially if it’s not certain that Manchin and all 49 other members of the Democratic caucus will back it.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates on Hold

The Pentagon has temporarily halted enforcement of President Joe Biden's mandate for federal contractors to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition for new or modified contracts, following an injunction by a federal judge on December 7. The Department of Defense order, contained in a December 9 memo, put a temporary halt to September’s executive order requiring vaccination as a condition for working with the government. The move comes after three months of confusion and frustration within the Pentagon and among defense contractors. The two were often equally unsure how to enforce the mandate while not losing the thousands of federal contractors who plan to refuse the vaccine, potentially putting multibillion-dollar deals at risk.

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Spotlight:

Happy Holidays from NECA Government Affairs!

NECA’s Government Affairs team wishes you a very happy holiday season and we hope you are enjoying time with your family and friends. We are happy to end the year with several major legislative wins for our industry, and we look forward to a new year of advancing NECA’s legislative agenda and working with you all to have another successful year.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Ron Guarienti of Pueblo Electric for renewing his PLC membership!

Congratulations to the Orange County Chapter, Washington DC Chapter, Santa Clara Valley Chapter, Eastern Oklahoma Chapter, South Texas Chapter, New York City Chapter, Oregon-Pacific-Cascade Chapter, Twin Ports-Arrowhead Chapter, Milwaukee Chapter, Illinois Chapter, Mahoning Valley Chapter, West Virginia/Ohio Valley Chapter, San Francisco Chapter, Western Pennsylvania Chapter, Southern Colorado Chapter, Kansas Chapter, Wisconsin Chapter, and Quad Cities Chapter on reaching their PLC goal for 2021!