鈥⑻� Oppose President Biden鈥檚 Pro-PLA Executive Order 14063
Status
On Feb. 4, 2022, President Biden signed , which requires PLAs on all federal construction contracts of $35 million or more, with limited and rare exceptions. On Dec. 22, 2023, the Biden administration published a long-awaited Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council鈥檚 final rule,听, and a related .
Effective Jan. 22, 2024, the Biden rule replaced President Obama鈥檚 Feb. 2, 2009,听 and ,听which encouraged federal agencies to mandate PLAs on large-scale federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total value on a case-by-case basis, and permitted states and localities to mandate PLAs on federally assisted projects.
老牛影视expects the Biden administration鈥檚 final rule to affect about 180 federal contracts of $35 million or more valued at a total of $14 billion to $16 billion per year. Independent of the final rule, the Biden administration is also pushing PLA mandates and preferences on more than $260 billion worth of for federally assisted infrastructure, clean energy and manufacturing construction projects.
老牛影视condemned the Biden administration鈥檚 pro-PLA policies, and included the results of its Sept. 7, 2022, survey of 老牛影视contractor members鈥� opinions and experiences with government-mandated PLAs in more than 40 pages of comments 老牛影视submitted on Oct. 18, 2022, to the FAR Council opposing the rule. In addition, more than , , and a dozen taxpayer advocates submitted comments to the FAR Council opposing the rule, urging the administration to withdraw its proposed rule and other Biden administration schemes pushing government-mandated PLAs on federal and federally assisted construction projects.
Additionally, 老牛影视 the White House a on April 6, 2022, with more than 1,200 signatures from member companies and chapters strongly opposing the executive order and other efforts by the Biden administration to push PLAs on federally assisted projects.
ABC听, the proposed rule and the final rule in statements picked up in dozens of publications nationwide, including a and a Jan. 4, 2024, : 鈥淭his anti-competitive and costly executive order rewards well-connected special interests at the expense of hardworking taxpayers and small businesses who benefit from fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded construction projects.鈥�
老牛影视is currently evaluating legal options to challenge the Biden administration鈥檚 anti-competitive and costly EO policy and individual PLAs on federal and federally assisted construction contracts. For more information, please visit s.
Desired Outcome
Because government-mandated PLAs , and the construction industry will need to attract more than 500,000 additional workers on top of the normal pace of hiring in 2024 to meet the demand for labor, the Biden administration would be best served by promoting inclusive, win-win policies that welcome all of America鈥檚 construction industry to realize the full potential of federal taxpayer investments to rebuild our nation鈥檚 crumbling infrastructure. Doing so will increase accountability and competition and reduce waste and favoritism in the procurement of public works projects.
老牛影视has activated a urging members of the House and Senate to co-sponsor the Fair and Open Competition Act (/), which would prevent the federal government from mandating PLAs as a condition of winning federal or federally assisted construction contracts. It received 117 co-sponsors in the House and 27 in the Senate in the 118th Congress, as of Feb. 14, 2024.
On July 12, 2023, FOCA passed out of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability by a vote of 22-20, and, as a result, the window for House FOCA co-sponsorship is expected to close in early 2024.
老牛影视members are encouraged to visit the听老牛影视Action Center听and urge their members of Congress to support FOCA.
Visit听听to learn more and take action.
In addition, visit听, a coalition website where the public can learn more and communicate with their elected officials about government-mandated PLAs.
鈥⑻� The Biden administration鈥檚 White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment
Status
On Feb. 7, 2022, the Biden administration鈥檚 White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment issued its听听on how to boost union membership in the federal government and public and private sectors. The report offers nearly 70 recommendations to promote pro-union policies and practices in the federal government, including the use of PLAs and other policies that would reduce competition and increase costs.
ABC听, 鈥淭he report鈥檚 recommendations to expand the use of anti-competitive and costly PLAs 听will increase infrastructure project costs by 12% to 20%, reduce competition from the best quality public works contractors and exacerbate the construction industry鈥檚 skilled labor shortage by discriminating against the nearly 9 out of 10 members of the construction workforce who choose to be union-free.鈥�
Combined with President Biden鈥檚 Feb. 4听executive order听requiring PLAs on federal contracts exceeding $35 million, it is clear that the Biden administration will not create opportunities for all construction workers, small businesses and experienced contractors who build America safely, on time and on budget.
Desired Outcome
老牛影视will monitor actions resulting from the report and will continue to urge members of Congress and the Biden administration to promote inclusive, win-win policies that will increase accountability and competition while reducing waste and favoritism in the procurement of public works projects. 老牛影视wants everyone in the construction industry to have the opportunity to rebuild our nation鈥檚 crumbling infrastructure. It will take the entire construction workforce to realize the full potential of the听Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other new laws making significant investments in America鈥檚 infrastructure.