老牛影视applauded Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) for signing Act 3, which will promote fair and open competition on contracts for construction services funded by Wisconsin taxpayers, The act will ensure that the government cannot mandate controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) on state, state-assisted and local construction projects and that merit shop contractors can compete for projects funded by their own tax dollars on a level playing field.

鈥淏y restricting the use of anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements, Gov. Walker and the state legislature have created the conditions for all of Wisconsin鈥檚 qualified business and workers鈥攗nion and nonunion alike鈥攖o compete on a level playing field to build publically funded construction projects,鈥� said 老牛影视Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck. 鈥淐ongress and the Trump administration should follow the lead of Wisconsin and 22 other states by immediately enacting a similar policy that will maximize competition, reduce costs and guarantee the fiscal accountability taxpayers deserve on federal and federally-funded construction projects.

鈥淎s Americans consider proposals to rebuild our nation鈥檚 deteriorating infrastructure, it is imperative that lawmakers pass measures that support fairness and efficiency in the government鈥檚 procurement of construction services to ensure that taxpayers receive the best possible return on investment,鈥� said Brubeck. 鈥淯nfortunately, this cannot be accomplished when government agencies cater to special interests by mandating PLAs, which steer contracts to unionized firms and create a labor monopoly for unionized workers, who make up just 14 percent of the construction industry nationally.鈥�

Gov. Walker signed the bill at the construction jobsite of AmeriLux International, a De Pere manufacturer of building materials, which is being built by 老牛影视member Keller Inc., Kaukauna, Wis.

鈥淲isconsin鈥檚 merit shop construction community thanks Gov. Walker, Sen. Leah Vukmir, Rep. Rob Hutton, the legislature and leadership for supporting this common-sense policy, which will create local jobs for the Badger State鈥檚 construction industry,鈥� said 老牛影视Wisconsin President John Mielke.听鈥淎s Governor Walker said today, it鈥檚 a great day for Wisconsin taxpayers and open competition.鈥�

When mandated by a government agency on a taxpayer-funded project, PLAs drive up the cost of construction projects听,听according to a series of academic studies. PLAs typically ensure construction contracts are awarded only to companies that agree to recognize unions as the representatives of their employees on that job; use the union hiring hall to obtain workers at the expense of existing qualified employees; obtain apprentices through union apprenticeship programs; follow inefficient union work rules; pay into union benefit and multi-employer pension plans workers will never benefit from unless they meet vesting requirements; and force workers to pay union dues and/or join a union as a condition of employment.听In the past week, 老牛影视has argued against PLA mandates in editorials in and .

In 2009, President Obama signed , which strongly encourages, on a case-by-case basis, government-mandated PLAs on federal construction projects and permits state and local governments procuring federally-assisted construction contracts to mandate PLAs. In January 2017, 听and a听听asked President Trump to issue an executive order similar to President Bush鈥檚 Executive Orders and , which prohibited government-mandated PLAs on $147.1 billion worth of federal construction contracts and hundreds of billions of dollars鈥� worth of federally assisted projects.

Wisconsin is the 21^st state to adopt legislation or executive action ensuring fair and open competition on state and local projects since 2011. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed legislation on April 13 that codifies his 2011 executive order and guarantees government neutrality toward PLAs on state, state-assisted and local public construction projects (SF 438). In 2015, West Virginia became the听听when Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed the bipartisan Establishing Fair and Open Competition in Governmental Construction Act (SB 409). Gov. Tomblin was the first Democratic governor to sign a bill prohibiting PLA mandates.

On March 28, the Fair and Open Competition Act () out of committee. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), would extend neutrality toward the use of PLAs to federal and federally assisted construction contracts. The bill was also introduced in the U.S. Senate () by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).

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