The following letter was hand-delivered to Gov. Jim Gibbons’ office this afternoon…
Dear Gov. Gibbons,
There has been much talk about the highway construction and repair needs for Nevada, with many calling for a tax increase to pay for it all. We the undersigned, representing thousands of Nevadans, want to thank you for your leadership in immediately taking that option off the table.
As an alternative to raising taxes, we write today suggesting a means of getting more “bang for the buck” in highway and other state construction projects.
It is our understanding that Gov. Bob Miller issued an executive order during his administration in the 1990s which mandates the use of cost-inflating union-only Project Labor Agreements (PLA) for government construction projects. These, combined with union-driven “prevailing wage” laws, drive up the cost of construction projects needlessly. We’ve heard estimates, for example, that if construction contracts were opened to non-union companies paying free-market, rather than inflated union wages, we could build five schools for the price of four.
Much like the national Davis-Bacon Act, PLAs and prevailing wage laws in Nevada discriminate against non-union construction firms and drive up the cost of projects for Nevada taxpayers. It has been estimated that such union-protection policies inflate costs by as much as 38 percent.
We are writing today to urge you to rescind Gov. Miller’s executive order mandating PLAs on government construction projects, as well as push for allowing both union and non-union contractors to bid on a level playing field for construction projects based on true market wages. In this manner, Nevada taxpayers would be better served, especially when it comes to highway construction projects, without raising taxes.
Signed,
Chuck Muth, Citizen Outreach
Larry Green, Business Leadership Council
Mark Warden, Budget Watch Nevada
Joe Enge, EdWatch Nevada
Farrokh Hormazdi, Asian-American Leadership Council
Elena Brady, Asian-American Republican Club
David Schumann, Nevada Committee for Full Statehood
Ann Bednarski, Parents for Quality Education
Terresa Monroe-Hamilton, NoisyRoom.net
Posted on February 5th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: Nevada
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