ABC Declares Victory as Federal Government Withdraws Project Labor Agreement
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is declaring victory in its fight for open competition and taxpayer value on federal construction projects. ABC issued the following press release earlier today: ABC DECLARES VICTORY AS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WITHDRAWS PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today announced another victory in its fight against government-mandated […]
Kansas Becomes 14th State to Guarantee Fair and Open Competition
On May 25, Gov. Sam Brownback signed H.B. 2157, which bans government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on state and local construction projects in Kansas. Enactment of this law brings the number of states that have banned PLA mandates on state-funded projects to 14 and makes Kansas the 10th state to do so since January 2011. […]
House to Vote on Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements Again: Oppose Grimm Amendment Striking Section 517 from H.R. 5854
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (MilCon/VA) for Fiscal Year 2013 (H.R. 5854). As TheTruthAboutPLAs.com reported May 21, during the full House Appropriations Committee markup of H.R. 5854, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) successfully offered an amendment that will prevent the federal government from prohibiting or requiring […]
Updated: ABC Hawaii Chapter Blasts Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s PLA Directive
Update: This afternoon, TheTruthAboutPLAs.com received a copy of Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s Administrative Directive 12-05, which encourages state agencies to require the use of a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement on projects costing more than $25 million and specifies the criteria for doing so. The directive looks very similar to President Barack Obama’s 2009 Executive […]
House Defends Principles of Fair and Open Competition with Passage of Amendment Restricting Government-Mandated PLAs on NDAA Authorized Projects
It was a historic week for the merit shop contracting community in the U.S. House of Representatives. Thursday, by a bipartisan vote of 211 to 209, the House passed an amendment offered by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) and cosponsored by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2013 […]
U.S. House Appropriations Committee Passes Amendment Restoring Fair and Open Competition on MilCon/VA Construction Contracts
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations on May 16 passed an amendment via voice vote to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon/VA) Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2013 that prevents federal agencies from requiring contractors to sign anti-competitive and costly project labor agreements (PLAs) as a condition of winning federal construction contracts. […]
California $16 Billion in the Red
While many states have found ways to balance their budgets, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) reported yesterday that California has a $16 billion mid-budget cycle deficit. Nearly all 50 states, including California, are required to balance their budgets, so this news will likely trigger some combination of spending cuts and significant tax increases. Here are […]
Prop. A Face-off on KPBS in San Diego
Must see video from San Diego. Eric Christen, executive director of the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC) recently debated former San Diego City Council Member Donna Frye on the merits of Proposition A, which would ban government-mandated project labor agreements on city funded projects. To learn more, visit their website www.fairandopencompetition.com or their […]
Oklahoma Becomes 13th State to Ban PLA Mandates; State Leaders Continue to Stand Up for Free Enterprise
On April 25, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed H.B. 3043, which bans wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on taxpayer-funded construction in the state. Oklahoma is the ninth state to ban these Big Labor handouts since January 2011, and the 13th state to do so overall. While Oklahoma does not have […]
California Lawmakers Pay Back Their Big Labor Allies, Take Steps to Deprive Charter Cities of Local Control
Elected officials in California have again taken their focus away from solving the troubled state’s problems to give a handout to their Big Labor enablers. From 2000 to 2011, the merit shop construction community helped local leaders and voters across the state understand that government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) deprive taxpayers of the opportunity to […]