Davis-Bacon Act Case Study

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INTRODUCTION
The 1931 Davis-Bacon Act (BDRA) requires the payment of current wage amounts to all workers on a Federally supported contracts. General program responsibilities are controlled by the Department of Labor (DoL). Project specific obligations are managed by the hiring agency. The DBRA requirements are employed via a number of Federal assistance programs through the related act provisions in each agency's implementing statutes.
What it covers The DBRA demands payment of normal wages on federally backed construction projects and applies to any federal government contract that exceed $2,000 for any construction, modification, or repair of government and public buildings. There are countless federal laws that allow federal assistance for construction through grants, loans, loan guarantees, and insurance are Davis-Bacon related Acts. The related Acts include provisions that require DBRA labor standards apply to the majority
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It hasn't come cheap for the taxpayer. According to research by Suffolk University economists, the DBRA has raised the construction wages on federal projects 22 percent above the market rate.
James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation suggest that repealing the DBRA could save taxpayers as much as $11 billion in 2010. Simply suspending the DBRA would allow government contractors to hire 160,000 new workers at no additional cost.
Many believe, the DBRA has explicitly racist origins. It is believed that it was introduced in response to the presence of Southern black construction workers on a Long Island, N.Y.. veterans hospital project. This "cheap" and "bootleg" labor was condemned by Rep. Robert L. Bacon, New York Republican, who introduced the legislation. American Federation of Labor (AFL) president William Green eagerly testified in support of the law before the U.S. Senate, claiming that " Southern black construction workers were being brought in to demoralize wage