Project Labor Agreement Mandate Stifles Competition, Cancels Solicitation for $1B Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing Project
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently canceled its solicitation for the construction of a $500 million to $1 billion federal currency printing plant in Beltsville, Maryland, on behalf of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
According to its Jan. 13, 2025, notice canceling the solicitation, the USACE Baltimore District cited “budgetary constraints and a reduction in the project’s required scope.”
The project had five qualified bidders in phase one of the two-step procurement process. All but one firm dropped out after a project labor agreement was mandated following the Jan. 22, 2024, effective date of former President Joe Biden’s rule mandating PLAs on federal construction projects of $35 million or more.
The USACE was unable to receive a PLA exception on this project from its senior procurement officials despite market research and real-world evidence indicating a PLA mandate would reduce competition, increase costs and trigger needless delays.
The fate of this project is unclear, although the USACE says it “will continue to work in partnership with BEP on a path forward as reevaluations fro this project are underway.”
The Washington Business Journal referenced ABC’s concerns about President Biden’s anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreement policies in its Jan. 30 reporting on the project.
“In construction, time is money,” ABC Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck was quoted in the WBJ article. “So, this project is going to probably have to be rebid if they have the money for it, and that’s going to make the project more expensive.”
Last month, ABC celebrated U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Ryan T. Holte’s Jan. 19 ruling in favor of 12 bid protests filed by experienced ABC and AGC member federal contractors against three federal agencies (USACE, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and General Services Administration) that illegally mandated PLAs in solicitations for construction services as a result of a Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council rule implementing Biden’s Executive Order 14063.
On Feb. 1, the judge extended his deadline by seven days to Feb. 10 for the U.S. Justice Department and the federal agency defendants to comply with his decision.
“Damning evidence procured through market research conducted by several federal agencies was raised in the case’s Jan. 16 oral argument and corroborated plaintiffs’ complaints and ABC’s long-standing concerns,” said Brubeck. “The findings of federal agencies illustrate how Biden’s controversial policy mandating union-favoring project labor agreements stifles competition and raises costs on federal construction contracts nationwide.”
According to Judge Holte’s ruling, the Biden FAR Council rule mandating PLAs violates congressional requirements for full and open competition:
“The agencies’ 2024 implementation of the mandate—ignoring the agencies’ own market research concluding project labor agreements would be anti-competitive—relying solely on executive order presidential policy is arbitrary and capricious. Specifically, the functionality of the mandate as applied to the individual contracts in this case stifles competition and violates the statutory directive that agencies must promote “full and open competition” in federal procurements unless a statutory justification is properly invoked.”
“President Biden’s anti-competitive and costly pro-PLA policies on federal and federally assisted construction projects need to be rescinded for many compelling reasons, including the fact that it would save taxpayers $10 billion annually,” said Brubeck. “The evidence presented in this bid protest case—the cancellation of the USACE’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing project due to a lack of competitors, ABC’s congressional testimony and the affidavits of prominent ABC federal contractors filed in ABC’s March 28, 2024, lawsuit in federal court in Jacksonville, Florida—clearly demonstrate why fair and open competition benefits all Americans and taxpayers.”
ABC advises ABC and industry federal contractors to continue to file bid protests against individual federal agency PLA mandates on a case-by-case basis. This is the best solution to defeat the Biden rule on federal contracts until a court issues an injunction against the rule or the Trump administration rescinds it via executive action.
Bid protests must be filed by experienced prime federal contractors in advance of the bid due date on an active federal agency solicitation. Please reach out to ABC if you would like to learn more.
Federal Project Cancellation a Blow to Maryland and Prince George’s County
Biden’s anti-competitive and costly PLA mandate policy stands to harm qualified local Maryland construction workers and businesses who are not affiliated with unions
Just 11.7% of Maryland’s construction workforce is unionized.
Numerous projects in Maryland and the DMV area have had problems as a result of government-mandated PLA schemes.
The Maryland Coalition for Fairness and Open Competition has been pushing back against likely PLA mandates resulting from harmful executive orders signed Nov. 17, 2023 and May 31, 2024, by Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) that may be attached to more than $20 billion worth of Maryland Department of Transportation construction projects.
Check out what local construction workers and businesses have to say about this bad public policy and lost opportunity: https://md4fairness.org/voices/
Maryland workers and businesses can urge elected officials to fix this bad policy at https://md4fairness.org/take-action/