President Biden’s Anti-Construction Policies Raise Taxpayer Costs, Freeze Workers Out of Opportunities
Chairman Comer and Committee members renew request for briefing on proposed rule under President Biden’s Executive Order requiring project labor agreements for large-scale construction projects
WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and several Committee Republican lawmakers today sent a letter to top officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) renewing concerns about the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s (FAR Council) proposed rule to implement President Biden’s Executive Order 14063, “Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects.” In a letter to OMB’s director and officials at OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the lawmakers request a staff briefing on the final draft rule of the policy. President Biden’s order and this rule, if finalized, will lead to higher costs for taxpayers, shut the vast majority of construction workers out of employment opportunities on federal projects, and result in decreased competition.
“President Biden’s Executive Order 14063, ‘Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects,’ charged the FAR Council to propose within 120 days a rule which could require PLAs in all federal construction projects worth $35 million or more (PLA Rule). This order threatens to raise taxpayer costs, cut non-union workers out of federal projects, and force right-to-work states to freeze local workers out of cooperative federal projects,” wrote the lawmakers.
Studies have shown that the use of PLAs leads to increases in taxpayer-funded construction costs of up to twenty percent, reduces opportunities for qualified contractors, and exacerbates the construction industry’s worker shortage. In a June 2022 letter to top officials at OMB, Oversight Committee Republicans initiated concerns about the legal implications and dangers of President Biden’s anti-competitive construction policy. The Republican lawmakers called for a briefing on the implementation of Executive Order 14063, which OMB officials did not provide.
“Our concerns over the threatened rule remain and are indeed heightened by your failure to respond fully to our request. On March 14, 2023, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Revesz communicated to the Committee that the FAR Council’s rule is now in the final rule phase. We therefore request that you provide Committee staff a briefing on the draft final rule before the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs completes review of the draft rule and no later than May 31, 2023,” the lawmakers continued.
The letter to OMB Director Shalanda Young, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Richard Revesz, and Office of Federal Procurement Policy Acting Administrator Lesley Field can be found here.