On Nov. 13, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., reintroduced the Affordable Housing Expansion Act, which streamlines outdated federal regulations under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and helps expand affordable housing nationwide.

“The Affordable Housing Expansion Act removes unnecessary barriers to construction and improves taxpayer value,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of government affairs. “By modernizing the Davis-Bacon wage determination process and reducing compliance burdens, this bill provides contractors, workers and taxpayers with accurate and clearly defined rates. ABC commends Sen. Moran for his leadership and urges Congress to advance this commonsense proposal.”

The bill improves the wage determination process by allowing wage surveys to use broader geographic groupings. In addition, it orders the U.S. Department of Labor to review and update how it collects wage data within one year to ensure that surveys are more reliable, generate higher participation rates and achieve a better balance between union and nonunion employers.

By cutting red tape and ensuring fair competition, the Affordable Housing Expansion Act empowers contractors to focus resources on building more homes and revitalizing communities across the country.

For more information on the bill, see ABC’s letter of support.

Background

The DBRA requires contractors to pay administratively determined minimum wage rates, or “prevailing wages,” for construction labor on projects exceeding just $2,000 in cost to the federal government. The DOL determines prevailing wages for construction projects through incomplete, inconsistent and unrepresentative surveys that often reflect union rates, as unionized contractors are more likely to report uniform wage data.

This can result in standardized union-level wages being applied across projects, regardless of whether contractors are unionized. As a result, the DBRA functions as a multibillion-dollar taxpayer subsidy for unionized construction contractors and, as the Congressional Budget Office estimates, will cost the federal government $24.3 billion through 2032.

For more information on Davis-Bacon, see here.