Alabama U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) are asking the Trump administration to end a controversial Biden-era rule requiring Project Labor Agreements for large-scale federal construction projects.
In a letter addressed to President Trump, led by Britt, the two lawmakers were joined nineteen of their fellow GOP Senators in formally requesting the change.
“The rulemaking threatens the competitiveness of infrastructure bids, increases construction costs, and delays work on federal construction contracts procured by federal agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the General Services Administration,” lawmakers wrote.
“The nation’s builders union and nonunion alike deserve a level playing field where the American taxpayer gets the best value for their dollar and our workforce is free from unjust mandates.”
The leaders, who believe the rule could be costing taxpayers billions every year, noted their trust in Trump’s leadership to protect the ‘economic principles that make our nation strong.’
“We respectfully request that you reverse this Biden administration policy and restore the long-established government neutrality in federal and federally assisted contracting. The economic prosperity of American workers relies on free market competitiveness based on merit.”
Associated Builders and Contractors of Alabama Board Chairman Tim Harrison is in favor of ending the policy.
“ABC has long fought the Biden Administration’s burdensome, inflationary, and anti-competitive PLA mandate rule,” Harrison said. “PLAs negatively impact merit-shop contractors, reduce competition, and increase cost. We’re grateful for Senator Britt’s leadership to advocate for federal contracts to be awarded based on merit to foster competition in the bidding process and ensure federal projects are completed efficiently and effectively.”
The Trump Administration appeared to signal in June that it would not be voiding the PLA law. According to Finance & Commerce, the Office of Management and Budget sent out a memo attempting to explain the administration’s stance on the issue.
“For clarity, the Trump administration supports the use of PLAs when those agreements are practicable and cost-effective, and blanket deviations prohibiting the use of PLAs are precluded,” said Russell T. Vought, director of OMB. “In general, two or more qualified offers is sufficient to provide adequate price competition for negotiated contracts and three or more qualified bids is sufficient to provide adequate price competition for sealed bids.”
According to Britt and Tuberville, Alabama is one of 24 states with state-level laws prohibiting government-mandated PLAs on state, state-assisted, and local construction projects, depending on the scope of their law.
Austen Shipley is the News Director for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
