Washington, March 14—Associated Builders and Contractors today voiced its strong support for the Fair and Open Competition Act (S.1064/H.R. ___), reintroduced today in the 119th Congress by Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La.
The Fair and Open Competition Act combats government-mandated project labor agreement schemes and ensures federal and federally assisted contracts are awarded through a fair and competitive bidding process. Restoring merit-based competition allows all qualified contractors to compete on a level playing field based on merit, experience, quality and safety in order to deliver the best projects at the best cost.
“ABC calls on all members of Congress to co-sponsor and advance the Fair and Open Competition Act to reverse anti-competitive and inflationary Biden administration policies that push project labor agreements on taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects,” said ABC Vice President of Legislative & Political Affairs Kristen Swearingen. “PLA mandates needlessly increase construction costs by 12% to 20% and discriminate against nonunion contractors and workers, who comprise a record-high 89.7% of the U.S. construction industry workforce.”
While the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of ABC members and industry federal contractors that filed bid protests challenging former President Joe Biden’s PLA mandate rule, the Jan. 21, 2025, decision only applied to projects subject to contractor bid protests, leaving all other contracts exposed to Biden’s harmful policy. Congress must act to prevent this Biden-era mandate from obstructing the efficient and economical construction of infrastructure projects.
“FOCA would ensure that the nearly 8 million U.S. construction industry employees who do not belong to a labor union are welcome to build taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects,” said Swearingen. “It protects workers from wage theft, as workers lose an estimated 34% of wages and benefits earned on a PLA project unless they accept unwanted union representation, join a specific union, pay membership dues and meet the union benefits plans’ vesting requirements. FOCA would also foster competition from small federal contractors and local workforces, which are disproportionately harmed by PLA mandates.
“At a time when government efficiency is a priority, eliminating a Biden-era mandate that costs taxpayers $10 billion annually is commonsense,” said Swearingen.
While the Fair and Open Competition Act would prohibit government-mandated PLAs on federal and federally assisted construction projects, this legislation would still allow federal agencies to award contracts to businesses that voluntarily enter a PLA before or after a fair and open competitive bidding process. A total of 25 states have passed measures similar to the Fair and Open Competition Act in order to curb waste and favoritism in the procurement of construction projects and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly by letting the market determine if a PLA is appropriate. However, a number of states without such protections are requiring wasteful PLAs on federally assisted construction projects as a result of Biden policies pushing PLAs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of federal agency competitive grant programs for infrastructure, clean energy and manufacturing construction projects built by government and private developers.
The bill was introduced with 17 original co-sponsors in the Senate and 91 in the House, the most FOCA has ever received in either chamber.
About ABC
Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2025, Associated Builders and Contractors is a national construction industry trade association established in 1950 with 67 chapters and more than 23,000 members. Founded on the merit shop philosophy, ABC helps members develop people, win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which ABC and its members work. Visit us at abc.org.
