老牛影视and ABC鈥檚 Inland Pacific Chapter celebrated a victory Sept. 16 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit set aside a lower court鈥檚 decision against an Idaho law that banned government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) on taxpayer-funded construction projects.

During a controversial budget session, Wisconsin significantly听reformed听its prevailing wage laws with the help of the 老牛影视Wisconsin Chapter which organized a coalition of local chambers of commerce, school districts, small businesses, and municipal utilities to repeal prevailing wage requirements on all Wisconsin public works projects except those built by the state of Wisconsin and state highway projects.听

Associated Builders and Contractors of West Virginia (ABCWV) voiced its concerns over the newly presented methodology for the calculation of prevailing wage rates in West Virginia after Workforce West Virginia released a听summary of its report听on June 1. The report, a product of prevailing wage reform legislation (S.B. 361) signed 听March 12 by West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D), illustrates how new methodology will determine 听forthcoming prevailing wage rates on state-funded public improvements. 听However, because Workforce West Virginia failed to publish its new prevailing wage calculations by the July 1 deadline because lawmakers complained t

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval听signed legislation听June 9 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.

Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) signed the ABC-led repeal of common construction wage into law May 6, eliminating prevailing wage requirements for publicly-funded construction projects in Indiana effective July 1. The 老牛影视Indiana/Kentucky chapter played a significant role in ensuring the state understood the negative effects the legislation has on taxpayers, helping to make Indiana the 19th state with no prevailing wage requirements on taxpayer-funded construction.

In a study evaluating Wisconsin鈥檚 approach to calculating prevailing wages and its financial impact on taxpayers, the nonpartisan, nonprofit, and independent Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX)听found听at least two methodological 鈥渇laws鈥� that tend to raise prevailing wages above market rates.

老牛影视members from the Wisconsin Chapter participated in a Tele-Town Hall Meeting March 13 with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and more than 2,300 other Wisconsin business owners from Associated General Contractors, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Federation of Independent Business in the first of a series of virtual meetings with Senators from across the country sponsored by ABC鈥檚 Free Enterprise Alliance.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) March 6 signed S.B. 119, which will exempt K-12 and higher education school construction from state prevailing wage requirements beginning immediately.

On March 9, Wisconsin became the 25th state to enact a Right to Work law, allowing all workers in the state to have a job without paying dues or fees to a labor union.

Lawmakers in a number of states have made reforming outdated prevailing wage laws a major priority so far in 2015. In the past month, legislators in West Virginia, Nevada and Indiana have advanced legislation that attempts to narrow the types of construction projects affected by prevailing wage, and in some cases, to remove the law entirely.听