GovernmentExecutive.com

A new Congressional Research Service report says suspension of Davis-Bacon Act wage rules would not necessarily ensure federal contracts hold down reconstruction costs in the Gulf Coast and that further research on the economic impacts of the law are needed.

The report, released Monday, comes as conservatives and liberals in the House and Senate have begun pushing for competing measures in the wake of President Bush's decision to suspend the law in the Gulf Coast last month.

Conservatives are pushing legislation that would automatically suspend the wage-protection law in areas designated by the president as disaster areas, while liberals are supporting several bills that would revoke Bush's suspension of the law.

"Perhaps the most frequently asked question concerning the Davis-Bacon Act is: Would the federal government (and the taxpayers) save money if the Davis-Bacon Act were repealed or modified to narrow its scope? The short answer is: No one really knows. Conversely, might Davis-Bacon result in savings to the federal government in its purchases of construction? That, too, would seem to be an open question," CRS argues in "Davis-Bacon Suspension and Its Legislative Aftermath."

According to CRS, drawing conclusions about the law's effects on contracting costs is impossible because "the state of current research would probably be insufficient to justify just an assertion."

COMMENTS

• This is not hard to figure out folks. If you are middle class and lost everything you had in LA, MS, AL and maybe even FL, You can forget being treated fairly. If you have a multi-million dollar no-bid contract you are a winner. The middle class is going to suffer for years under this administration while the corporate money will increase exponentially over the next few years. If corporations do not have to pay the prevailing wage they surely will not. Illegal aliens will work for less than minimum wage and be happy. American middle class people can't live on $5.15 per hour because we have to pay for everything we get while illegals get it for free. rds Posted October 4, 2005 8:50 PM
• Why don't we just give Halliburton/KBR the keys to the U.S. Treasury and go home? They cost their contracts at the going wage, plus a handsome "administrative load" and - in deployed areas - add an "incentive." Then they go into the deployed areas and pay local nationals a small fraction of that, and don't provide any benefits. No. Do not waive anything. Make them pay somebody a decent, living wage for a change. They will bring the people they bring in quite well. It is the locals they will try to take advantage of. The same people who have been kicked around by the "haves" all their lives, and then blamed for having nothing. And who wrote that 13th hour amendment to the contract to let KBR in on the action, anyway? GovExec.com reader Posted October 5, 2005 2:00 AM
• Sounds kind of like taking advantage of the unfortunate people who have already been through way too much agony. Lost their homes, their jobs and possibly family members. I guess since they have nothing better to do, let's give them a dollar an hour and a chance at "meaningful" employment. GovExec.com reader Posted October 4, 2005 9:33 PM