During his first State of the State address on Feb. 2, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) called for reforms related to project labor agreements (PLAs) and prevailing wage requirements that will help empower Illinois residents and drive economic growth.

The leader of Philadelphia’s Ironworkers Local 401, Joseph Dougherty,Ìýwas convictedÌýJan. 20 on charges of racketeering conspiracy and counts of vandalism and extortion. The court found him guilty of and responsible for the use of arson, intimidation and violence in order to secure jobs for members of the union. The conviction came more than two years after the Quaker Meetinghouse jobsite of longtime ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓmember E. Allen Reeves, Inc., of Abington, Pa., was theÌýtarget of vandalismÌýduring the 2012 Christmas holiday causing an estimated $500,000 in damages.

The Michigan Supreme CourtÌýhas agreed to hear ABC’s appealÌýin a case that could lead to the invalidation of local prevailing wage ordinances throughout the state. The lawsuit seeks to overturn aÌýMay 2014 Michigan Court of Appeals ruling, which overturned a previous Ingham County Circuit Court decision thatÌýruled in ABC’s favor.Ìý

Amanda Novak, the human resources manager for ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓmember company The Tri-M Group, LLC,Ìýtestified on behalf of the merit shopÌýconstruction industry during a field hearing about what employers need from educators and state officials to fix the workforce issues we face.Ìý

In aÌýcourt rulingÌýAug. 28, a San Diego, Calif., superior court judge upheld legislation (S.B. 7) that allows the state to limit construction funding to charter cities that do not subject their locally funded projects to prevailing wage requirements, negatively impacting merit shop contractors that complete public projects within those cities and the taxpayers paying the bill for the projects. Ìý

In the July 16 ruling of Merit Construction Alliance v. City of Quincy, the First Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) preempts a controversial city ordinance that forced contractors to “engage in a bona fide apprentice training program" registered with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards as a condition of bidding for city work.

ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓof MichiganÌýpraised the state’s legislatureÌýfor passing language that will deter public universities from engaging in unionizing activities by requiring neutrality as a part of the 2014/2015 Higher Education budget recommendation which is expected to receive final legislative approval.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has issued a survey requesting comments from the construction industry on the potential use of a project labor agreement (PLA) for theÌýDefense Logistic Agency Aviation Phase I project in Richmond, Va.

ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓof Michigan May 28Ìýreleased its intention to carefully review and appeal the decision made by the Michigan Court of Appeals to reinstate Lansing’s prevailing wage ordinance. ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓof Michigan originally challenged the mandate in 2012.

ÀÏÅ£Ó°ÊÓtoday celebrated an important decision limiting the scope of the Davis-Bacon Act issued by a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.Ìý In a March 31 decision granting summary judgment to the District of Columbia (the District) and private developer CCDC Office LLC (CCDC), Judge Amy Berman Jackson rejected the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) unprecedented ruling that the Davis-Bacon Act can be expanded to include privately funded projects.