Nevada Becomes the 23rd State to Ban PLA Mandates, Is Ohio Next?
Gov. Sandoval signed legislation last week to make Nevada the 23rd state to restrict the ability of state and local government entities to implement wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on taxpayer funded construction projects. Nevada is the 20th state to take action on the issue since President Barack Obama issued his executive […]
Ohio House of Representatives Approves Budget Limiting PLA Mandates
The Ohio House of Representatives yesterday approved a budget that includes language banning wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on state-funded construction projects. If enacted, this language will prohibit political subdivisions, including cities, counties and school districts, from imposing PLA mandates on construction projects that receive financial support from the state. This is […]
Arkansas Adopts Bipartisan PLA Reform Legislation
Gov. Asa Hutchison is the 18th governor since January 2011 to sign legislation or an executive order banning wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on taxpayer-funded construction projects. Arkansas is one of 21 states in total that limit the ability of public entities to require contractors to enter into a PLA as a […]
Arkansas Senate Passes Bill to Strengthen PLA Reform Executive Order
The Arkansas Senate today unanimously passed S.B. 426, which codifies and strengthens a 2005 executive order issued by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee that bans project labor agreement (PLA) mandates on taxpayer-funded construction. In contrast to the partisanship in Washington, D.C., senators from both parties stood together to reject these handouts to Big Labor bosses. The bill approved by the […]
California Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill Mandating the Use of PLA
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) this week signed legislation designed to expedite the construction of a critical water infrastructure project in the Salinas Valley. Unfortunately, provisions in the bill require the authority procuring the project to mandate the use of a wasteful and discriminatory project labor agreement (PLA). As a result, the local agency has decided […]
Fresno Open Competition Ordinance in Jeopardy
Merit shop advocates have learned the Fresno, Calif., City Council will consider repealing the city’s ban on government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) this week. The city’s open competition ordinance could be repealed by the end of the year. Since 2000, this ordinance has successfully guaranteed government neutrality with regard to PLAs on city project and […]
Why ABC New Jersey Chapter is Suing Jersey City
Earlier this month, the New Jersey Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) filed a complaint in federal court against Jersey City, N.J., in response to its 2012 ordinance requiring developers and contractors to execute union-favoring project labor agreements (PLAs) on certain tax-abated projects in Jersey City. This ordinance amended existing pro-PLA city code that […]
Rochester City Council Approves PLA for Mayo Civic Center Renovation
With little public notice, the Rochester, Minn., City Council in early July approved a project labor agreement (PLA) requirement for the $85 million Mayo Civic Center renovation project. Bob Heise, president of Associated Builders and Contractors Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter, nicely summed up the negative reaction of the construction industry in an op-ed published by the Rochester […]
Trouble in Paradise: Santa Barbara County Adopts Discriminatory Mandate
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors last week voted 4-1 to negotiate its first project stabilization agreement mandate on a county project for the Northern Branch Jail AB 900 Phase II Project. A project stabilization agreement is just another name for a project labor agreement (PLA) and is likely to raise costs on this $70 billion project.
California Legislature Poised to Issue First Local PLA Mandate in State History
The California Legislature is set to break new ground and taxpayers should be very concerned. For the first time in state history, the Legislature is posed to require a local government entity to mandate a project labor agreement (PLA) on a local construction project. If Assembly Bill 155, sponsored by Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D), is […]