Today, Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) led a coalition of 59 House members to send a letter to President Biden calling on him to reverse the administration's executive order mandating anti-competitive project labor agreements on federal construction contracts.
The full text of the letter is below:
We write to express our strong opposition to your administration's efforts to encourage and require project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal and federally assisted construction contracts funded by taxpayers. Executive Order 14063, which requires PLAs on federal construction contracts exceeding $35 million, will undermine taxpayer investment in public works projects financed by the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act, and other recent infrastructure legislation passed by Congress. None of these laws included language requiring or encouraging the use of PLAs.
Currently, 87.3% of the U.S. construction workforce does not belong to a union. Mandating PLAs will prevent qualified contractors from fairly competing for contracts on taxpayer-funded projects. These mandates will also deny critical construction jobs to local workers and small businesses. The Fair and Open Competition Act (FOCA, H.R. 1284) would guarantee the best value for hardworking taxpayers through a fair and open bidding process for federal construction projects. Notably, FOCA prevents federal mandates for PLAs, but also ensures federal agencies can still award contracts to businesses that voluntarily enter into a PLA.
Twenty-four states have enacted similar measures that ensure accountability, oversight, and a fact-based decision-making process. These laws lead to better investment in local infrastructure and the creation of more construction industry jobs--a vital part of economic recovery. These state laws curb waste and favoritism in the procurement of construction projects and ensure responsible management of taxpayer dollars. Further, they allow markets to determine the appropriateness of a PLA, not the federal government.
Your administration should be designing policies that support job growth for all qualified contractors, not attaching strings to infrastructure funding that create discriminatory barriers to recovery. For the sake of small businesses, workers, and taxpayers, we request that you immediately withdraw this harmful guidance. We appreciate your thoughtful consideration of our request to protect all American workers.
The full list of co-signers is below:
Rep. Ted Budd
Rep. James Comer
Rep. Patrick McHenry
Rep. Virginia Foxx
Rep. Scott Perry
Rep. Andy Harris
Rep. Andy Biggs
Rep. John Moolenaar
Rep. Darrell Issa
Rep. Dusty Johnson
Rep. Bob Good
Rep. Glenn Grothman
Rep. Greg Steube
Rep. Debbie Lesko
Rep. Mary Miller
Rep. Alex Mooney
Rep. Rick Allen
Rep. Ronny Jackson
Rep. Rob Wittman
Rep. Randy Weber
Rep. Steve Womack
Rep. Tracey Mann
Rep. Ralph Norman
Rep. Fred Keller
Rep. Bob Gibbs
Rep. Brian Babin
Rep. Jerry Carl
Rep. Julia Letlow
Rep. Louie Gohmert
Rep. French Hill
Rep. Jeff Duncan
Rep. Lloyd Smucker
Rep. Tim Walberg
Rep. John Carter
Rep. Kat Cammack
Rep. Paul Gosar
Rep. Byron Donalds
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Rep. Ken Calvert
Rep. Jake Ellzey
Rep. David Rouzer
Rep. Ben Cline
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald
Rep. Doug Lamborn
Rep. Ken Buck
Rep. Blaine Luetkemyer
Rep. Tim Burchett
Rep. Greg Murphy
Rep. Jake LaTurner
Rep. Barry Loudermilk
Rep. Neal Dunn
Rep. Burgess Owens
Rep. Adrian Smith
Rep. Ashley Hinson
Rep. Young Kim
Rep. Madison Cawthorn
Rep. Tom McClintock
Rep. Roger Williams
Rep. Rick Crawford