Posted on 09/13/2005 8:13:26 AM PDT by stan_25
If, needing to move quickly in an emergency, one of your hands is tied behind your back, you should untie it. But once the emergency has passed, you might ask: "Why did I tie it in the first place?" That's a question Congress should now ponder.
On September 8, President Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act, the federal "prevailing wage" law, in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. This is a welcome move in the effort to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, helping to create jobs in the hurricane-stricken areas. But if suspending Davis-Bacon is good for economic development and job growth in a disaster area, repealing it entirely would be good for the country.
Davis-Bacon requires federal contractors to pay the "prevailing" wage in a given locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor. Because this has typically been equivalent to the prevailing union wage, the law makes it harder for non-union contractors to compete.
Disaster-stricken areas need all the workers they can get. To meet that urgent need, any regulations that hinder hiring should be put aside.
The move has precedent. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush suspended Davis-Bacon in areas of South Florida and coastal Louisiana hit by Hurricane Andrew, as well as areas of Hawaii struck by Hurricane Iniki. However, a March 1993 Clinton Executive Order reinstated Davis-Bacon. (The lesson is hardly new -- following the Great Fire of London in 1666, Parliament abolished the trade guild system to ensure a sufficient supply of skilled labor to rebuild the city.)
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
I'm all for repeal of Davis Bacon. But you have to wonder right now... Think the gvt is gonna get a better deal on reconstruction?
I don't.
I wondered if Davis-Bacon would be suspended. Thanks to the President for doing so.
Davis-Bacon sucks and that is all there is to say about that.
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