State Legislation | The Truth About PLAs

Bill to End Union Abuse of Environmental Laws Fails in California Assembly Committee

January 11, 2012 – 5:13 pm

On January 9, 2012, the California State Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee considered Assembly Bill 598, a bill sponsored by ABC of California and introduced by Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) that would give authority to file lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) solely to the California Attorney General. The hearing was an opportunity for [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, State Legislation, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

ABC Empire State Chapter Urges Gov. Cuomo to Unshackle the Economic Power of Public Construction

January 8, 2012 – 4:12 pm

Stephen Lefebvre, president of the Empire State Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) had some thoughts on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state of the state address last week. The ABC Empire State Chapter issued the press release below on January 5, where he wished Gov. Cuomo the best in 2012 and asked him [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC Empire State, New York, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Press Release, Project Labor Agreements, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (0)

Virginia Construction Industry Supports Legislation Ensuring Fair and Open Competition On Public Construction Contracts

December 14, 2011 – 12:55 pm

Yesterday, ABC Virginia issued a press release supporting the Fair and Open Competition in Government Contracting Act (HB 33) pre-filed this Monday in Richmond (see the full release below). HB 33 prohibits Virginia and recipients of state funding or assistance from requiring or prohibiting contractors to enter into union agreements, such as a project labor agreement (PLA), as [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC Virginia, Arizona, Barbara Comstock, Boston Herald, Dulles Transit Partners, Fair and Open Competition in Government Contracting Act (HB 33), Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Metro Washington Airport Authority, Michigan, MWAA, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Silver Line, State Legislation, Take Action, Tennessee, Tim Hugo, VA, Virginia, Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street Journal | Comments (0)

California’s Environmental Laws: A Weapon to Crush Potential Competition and Extort Developers

November 16, 2011 – 10:01 am

Legal exploitation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for purposes unrelated to environmental protection continues unabated throughout California, according to an article in the November 14 Los Angeles Times (“Firms Turning to Environmental Law to Combat Rivals”). This news is 25 years old, but it’s always good to see the news media remind people [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, California Environmental Quality Act, California Unions for Reliable Energy (CURE), Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, Los Angeles, PLAs Cut Competition, Project Labor Agreements, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (0)

On the Money: Sacramento CBS Affiliate Breaks Down the Added Cost of PLAs

November 1, 2011 – 6:01 pm

In their “On the Money” segment, Sacramento’s CBS affiliate exposes what PLA mandates on school construction mean for taxpayers. Government-mandated PLAs have a negative impact on local construction workers and taxpayers. These special interest handouts to Big Labor line the pockets of union bosses at the expense of average Americans. Californians throughout the state have [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, Chula Vista, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, Oceanside, PLA Video, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Increase Costs, Sacramento, Sacramento City Unified School District, Sacramento Regional Transit (RT) District Board of Directors, San Diego, School Construction, State Legislation, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (0)

WSJ Editorial Blasts California SB 922

October 5, 2011 – 10:48 am

TheTruthAboutPLAs.com has been reporting for weeks about the perils of SB 922 and other California legislation catering to Big Labor’s special interests by promoting anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). After sailing through the California legislature via a deceptive gut and amend legislative vehicle originally about tuberculosis screening, Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed SB 922 [...]

By Ben Brubeck | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, Chula Vista, Editorial, Fox News, Fresno, Gov. Brown, local legislation, Oceanside, Orange County, Palmdale Water District, PLA Video, Placer County, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, Proposition A, Sacramento, San Diego, San Diego County, SB 922, Stanislaus County, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs, Wall Street Journal | Comments (0)

California Governor Signs Union-Backed Senate Bill 922, Intended to End Local Project Labor Agreement Bans

October 3, 2011 – 10:19 am

California Governor Jerry Brown announced on Sunday, October 2 that he has signed Senate Bill 922. He even included a signing message that declared SB 922 to be “fair” and “democratic.” This is the most dramatic attempt to date by unions and their political cronies to suppress the Fair and Open Competition movement that started [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, Gov. Brown, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, Project Labor Agreements, SB 922, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (1)

Bill at Governor Brown’s Desk is Basis for Argument to Remove Project Labor Agreement Ban from Proposed Escondido Charter

September 29, 2011 – 5:14 pm

As of September 28, Governor Jerry Brown has not publicly announced his decision on Senate Bill 922, a hastily gutted and amended union-backed bill that deprives California charter cities of state funding for construction projects if they have Fair and Open Competition policies that prohibit city mandates for contractors to sign Project Labor Agreements with [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ABC California, California, Escondido, local legislation, PLAs, Project Labor Agreements, SB 922, State Legislation | Comments (0)

A Genuine California Union Conspiracy: Senate Bill 790 and the California Building Trades Council’s Ratepayer-Funded Political Slush Fund

September 23, 2011 – 12:30 pm

In California, a mini-public relations campaign is underway to defend Senate Bill 790, a bill now at Governor Jerry Brown’s desk dealing with “community choice aggregation” for electric consumers. Defenders of the bill are trying to downplay an obscure but controversial unrelated provision attached to the end of the bill that allows public utilities to [...]

By Kevin Dayton | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 20 in 2010, ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, California Environmental Quality Act, Chula Vista, Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, SB 922, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs | Comments (1)

California Bills Designed to Turn Back the Will of the Voters Reach Gov. Jerry Brown’s Desk

September 19, 2011 – 4:14 pm

With two of the three bills designed to kill California voters’ rebellion against project labor agreements (PLAs) reaching Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk on Friday afternoon, this is a good opportunity to again urge Gov. Brown to veto this obvious and appalling handout to Big Labor. This is also a good opportunity to review the numerous [...]

By Andy Conlin | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 20 in 2010, 2010 Election, ABC California, Ballot Initiative, California, Chula Vista, Editorial, Greenmail, Kevin Dayton, local legislation, PLAs, PLAs are political payoffs to union leaders, PLAs Cut Competition, PLAs Discriminate, PLAs Increase Costs, Project Labor Agreements, San Diego, SB 922, School Construction, State Legislation, The Politics of PLAs, Union-only PLAs harm local workers | Comments (1)