ABC Legislative Week 2018: Fighting for Fair and Open Competition
Members of the merit shop contracting community, welcome to Washington and ABC’s Legislative Conference 2018. More than 500 ABC members are traveling to Washington, D.C., for meetings with top Trump administration and congressional leaders to address the issues that impact the merit shop construction industry. Answering ABC’s powerful Get Into Politics or Get Out of Business! message, attendees will educate lawmakers […]
TheTruthAboutPLAs.com Pushes for Repeal of Obama’s Pro-Project Labor Agreement Policy on NewsMaxTV
NewsmaxTV invited TheTruthAboutPLAs.com contributor Ben Brubeck onto a program to discuss the Trump administration’s infrastructure plan (full administration outline) released today (“Ben Brubeck on Trump’s Infrastructure Plan,” 2/18/18) and the need to rollback regulations promoting anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects: At about 5:38 of the interview, there is discussion about the […]
CNBC Op-Ed: Eliminating Federal Policy Promoting Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements Should Be A Policy Cornerstone of Trump Infrastructure Plan
CNBC published commentary from TheTruthAboutPLAs.com contributor Ben Brubeck, which called for reforms to the federal policy encouraging the use of anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements on large-scale federal construction projects (“Five policy cornerstones for Trump’s $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan,” 2/1/18). Check out this passage and the four other recommended policy cornerstones (permitting reform, increase the […]
TheTruthAboutPLAs.com Calls For Eliminating Pro-Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreement Policy on Fox Business
The FBN:am program on Fox Business interviewed TheTruthAboutPLAs.com contributor Ben Brubeck for construction industry insights in reaction to President Trump’s Jan. 30, 2018, State of the Union Address, which addressed the Trump administration’s forthcoming $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan. The interview finished with a discussion about the need to rescind President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which […]
A Total of 24 States Restrict Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements
On Feb. 6, 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to mandate controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale federal construction projects—those exceeding $25 million in total value—on a case-by-case basis, and permits states and localities to mandate PLAs on federally assisted projects. Since President Obama issued Executive Order 13502, 23 […]
A Win For Taxpayers and Free Enterprise: Wisconsin Is 23rd State to Pass Law Restricting Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements
On April 17, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) signed SB 3 into law, which promotes fair and open competition on contracts for construction services funded by Wisconsin taxpayers. The “Project Labor Agreement Neutrality Bill” now known as Act 10 prohibits the government from mandating controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) on state, state-assisted and local construction projects […]
WSJ Project Labor Agreement Op-Ed: A Wisconsin Lesson for Trump the Builder
The Wall Street Journal editorial and op-ed pages have invested barrels of ink opposing anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). In numerous instances (see pieces at end of blog post) the WSJ editorial board has derided PLA mandates, calling them “crony contracts,” “a rotten deal for taxpayers,” and worse: “PLAs are a form of political bid-rigging that robs […]
Iowa Law Restricts Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreements, Protects Hawkeye State Construction Industry
On April 13, Gov. Terry Branstad (R-Iowa) signed SF 438 into law, which promotes fair and open competition on contracts for construction services funded by Iowa taxpayers. The measure will ensure that the government cannot mandate controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) on state, state-assisted and local construction projects, guaranteeing that the 85 percent of Iowa’s […]
House Committee Passes Fair and Open Competition Act Targeting Federal Project Labor Agreement Mandates
This week the merit shop contracting community hit an important legislative milestone in its campaign for fair and open competition in government contracting. ABC issued a press release Tuesday applauding the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for favorably reporting out of committee the Fair and Open Competition Act (H.R. 1552), introduced in the 115th Congress by […]
Coalition to House: Champion Bill Reforming Unfair Government-Mandated Project Labor Agreement Schemes
A diverse coalition of construction industry associations and employer groups sent a letter to the United States House of Representatives March 16 opposing government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) and anti-competitive PLA preferences used by federal agencies as a result of President Obama’s pro-PLA Executive Order 13502 and related regulations. The letter asks House members to cosponsor the Fair and Open Competition Act (H.R. 1552), […]