While the need for a substantial infrastructure package is clear, the U.S. House of Representatives bill, H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, relies heavily on deficit spending and includes harmful and expensive polices that will be detrimental to our nation’s ability to effectively and efficiently rebuild and modernize its infrastructure.
By including anti-competitive provisions, such as discriminatory government-mandated project labor agreements and flawed Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements, this bill will dissuade contractors from bidding on taxpayer-funded public works projects. It also excludes the overwhelming majority of Ohio’s construction professionals who choose not to join a union, which will significantly drive up costs.
As our state and local governments recover from the devastating health and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, tell Senator’s Portman and Brown that we need a clear path forward on infrastructure spending rooted in fair and open competition and equal opportunity, not policies that favor big labor and costly, ineffective federal mandates.
