Idaho Becomes 7th State to Ban Government-Mandated PLAs on State and Local Projects

2 March 4, 2011  State & Local Construction, Uncategorized

One more state says YES to ensuring taxpayer value on public construction projects!

Gov. Butch Otter yesterday signed S.B. 1006 banning state and political subdivisions from requiring contractors to sign a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement or other deals with a labor union as a condition of performing work on public projects.

Idaho joins six other states in prohibiting government-mandated PLAs on taxpayer funded work.

Members of the Inland Pacific Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors attended the bill signing with Gov. Otter and came back with these outstanding pictures.

Here is another one of Gov. Otter signing the bill:

This is a huge win for those who believe that public construction projects should go to the most qualified contractors at the best price, regardless of union affiliation.

While there has not been much PLA activity in Idaho in the past, this law could be key in preventing potential government-mandated PLAs on federally assisted projects in the future.  Readers of this blog know that there is a section of President Obama’s Executive Order 13502 that requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to make a recommendation to the president on whether the use of PLAs should be expanded to federally assisted projects.  Since potential future projects that are funded in part by the federal government will also be likely to receive state or local funds too, Idaho’s law prohibiting PLAs on these primarily state and locally controlled projects could make it very difficult for the Obama administration to mandate the use of PLAs.

The people of Idaho have spoken through their elected leaders.  They do not want their tax dollars spent on Big Labor handouts.  Let’s hope that the Obama administration and union bosses in Washington, D.C. get the message.

This post was written by and tagged Tags:, , , , , , , , , , ,

2 Responses to Idaho Becomes 7th State to Ban Government-Mandated PLAs on State and Local Projects

Arizona Bans Greenmail, Government-mandated PLAs on State and Local Projects | ArizonaNewsPress.com | Arizona Breaking News Headlines | News Directory April 12, 2011 at 4:04 pm

[…] of behaving taxpayer saved construction. Similar policies have been enacted so distant in 2011 in Idaho by legislation and Iowa around executive […]

Arizona Bans Greenmail, Government-Mandated PLAs on State and Local Projects April 13, 2011 at 12:22 pm

[…] of performing taxpayer funded construction. Similar policies have been enacted so far in 2011 in Idaho through legislation and Iowa via executive order.This is a huge win for Arizona taxpayers and the 95 percent of the […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *