Victory in Idaho: Appeals Court Upholds Idaho Law Protecting Fair and Open Competition on Public Construction Projects
Big news out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit: Idaho’s law restricting state agencies or political subdivisions from requiring contractors to enter into project labor agreements (PLAs) as a condition of performing public work stands. There are no legal challenges against any of the enacted 23 state anti-PLA mandate laws or executive […]
California Supreme Court Sides with Charter Cities on Prevailing Wage; Decision Could Impact Local PLA Neutrality Laws
In a landmark decision, the California Supreme Court on July 2 upheld the right of California’s 121 charter cities to establish their own policies governing when to apply the state’s prevailing wage law to city construction projects. In this case, the city of Vista asserted that by becoming a charter city, it had the ability […]
The Truth About the Recent PA Supreme Court Ruling
The Pennsylvania Supreme Count issued a preliminary ruling on the Hawbaker, et al. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of General Services, et al. Several uninformed media outlets have indicated that this ruling is an endorsement of PLAs. This is not accurate. This case stems from former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell administration’s effort to force PLA requirements on […]
Baltimore Community Partnership Agreement (PLA) Bill Gets a Hearing
The Baltimore City Council held a hearing Thursday, July 29 to examine local legislation (Bill 10-0455) that would require community partnership agreements – also known as wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreements (PLAs) – on all construction projects costing more than $5 million and that have some form of city financial support. Here is an […]
Baltimore City Solicitor Opposes Baltimore Project Labor Agreement Ordinance
“For the reasons listed above, the Law Department does not approve the bill for form and legal sufficiency.” That is the legal opinion of Ashley H. Brown, Baltimore’s Assistant Attorney Solicitor, on controversial legislation (Bill No. 10-0455) before the Baltimore City Council that would require the city to include government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) in all contracts for construction projects with a total […]