At the last National ABC Board of Directors meeting after much debate they voted to change ABC’s policy on Davis-Bacon from “reform” to “seek repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act”. 

The first step in that endeavor will occur on Thursday, April 14 at a hearing of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), will hold a hearing entitled, "Examining the Department of Labor’s Implementation of the Davis-Bacon Act.” The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building. 

The Davis-Bacon Act requires the payment of “prevailing wage rates” on federal construction projects valued over $2,000. In order to determine the prevailing wage, the Department of Labor conducts surveys to collect wage and fringe benefit data. At the request of Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently reviewed the department’s implementation of the Davis-Bacon Act. The GAO highlighted a number of challenges affecting the department’s execution of the Act that could potentially reduce earnings for workers or increase projectcosts to taxpayers.

Thursday’s hearing will provide members of Congress the opportunity to learn more about the recent GAO report and examine the department’s implementation of the Davis-Bacon Act.  

To read the GAO’s report, please go to http://edworkforce.house.gov/UploadedFiles/3_11_GAO_DB.pdf