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The Davis Bacon act is one of the more insane laws around. It skyrockets the cost not only of Federally funded jobs, but also state funded jobs and even locally funded government jobs that seek to comply with it.

For those who aren’t familiar, the Davis Bacon act requires contractors doing work on certain government-funded construction jobs to pay their workers “prevailing wage” rates determined by the government. Basically it locks in Union wage rates for non-union workers. It also has a paperwork compliance component that adds a huge burden on the companies who are under its jackboot.

And to illustrate the silliness: We’re a contractor in Maryland. If we do work in Baltimore, our wage rate is about $11/hour. If the same crew drives to DC, it’s $19.80. But if the job is over 4 stories, it’s $33. And if we drive to Philadelphia, it’s $52/hour. Same guys doing the same work.

So the result is that every job under Davis Bacon ends up costing 40 to 150% more than it should if done under prevailing competitive market wages.

Repealing Davis Bacon would kill a lot of unions.