Legislative Alert: Davis-Bacon Expansion in Farm Bill
Davis-Bacon Act Expansion in Farm Bill Increases Costs by $576 Billion
AWF Urges Removal of Depression-Era Wage Subsidy Law
Washington, D.C. – The Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) urges the Senate to remove any and all Davis-Bacon prevailing wage subsidies from the Farm Bill, specifically Section 9003 before passing the conference report.
The current calculations of the Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wages done by the Wage and Hour Division:
„« Raise public construction costs by $8.6 billion per year nation-wide passing that cost onto the taxpaying citizens.
„« Have a 100% error rate as identified by the Office of Inspector General.
„« Inflate wages on average by 22% nationwide.
„« Current WHD methods inflate construction costs by 9.91%.
According to the Chamber of Commerce, Davis-Bacon in the Farm Bill “will increase construction costs for these projects; lower participation rates by small, emerging, and minority contractors; and impose wage rates that are not reflective of local market rates.”
For these reasons and more, AWF urges all Senators to vote “no” on H.R. 2419, “The Farm Bill”. AWF may rate this vote, or any votes related to this measure in our 110th 2nd Session Labor Congressional Scorecard.
The Alliance for Worker Freedom is a special project of Americans for Tax Reform dedicated to the protection of workers rights.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact John Kartch at (202) 785-0266 or at jkartch@atr.org.
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