AWF Will Rate Final Vote on H.R. 3221
AWF sent the following letter to all members of the House urging them to oppose H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which increase the cost of school construction projects at the expense of the taxpayer.
See the full letter below and view the printable PDF here.
15 September 2009
AWF WILL RATE FINAL VOTE on H.R. 3221
Dear Chairman Miller & Ranking Member Kline:
On behalf of the Alliance for Worker Freedom, and millions of hardworking rank-and-file American workers and their families, I am urging you to not pass out of Committee H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which increase the cost of school construction projects at the expense of the taxpayer in Title III and vote “no” on this bill.
Applying Davis-Bacon prevailing wage mandates inflates construction wages nationally by 22 percent. However, in some areas, such as Maine and South Carolina, construction wages are 15-55 percent below market wages due to forced compliance with prevailing wage laws. The cost of compliance with these outdated mandates increases the cost of construction projects nationally by $8.6 billion – a cost that is passed on to the taxpayers. The difference between having a prevailing wage or not, is the difference between building three schools or four.
Representative, you are being asked to consider this type of dangerous legislation in H.R. 3221 which is why you must vote “no” on this bill. Care must be taken to ensure that out-dated wage mandates are removed from all future legislation.
Rather than broadening the scope of the Davis-Bacon Act and prevailing wage laws, I am urging this Congress to pass legislation or offer amendments that will permanently reform the Davis-Bacon Act by requiring Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data to be used in the wage calculations.
Therefore, I am urging you to oppose the forced prevailing wage requirements in this bill and vote “NO” on H.R. 3221.
Sincerely,
Brian M. Johnson, MPA
Executive Director
cc: All US House Members
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