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Construction,Women Construction Owners and Executives,Latin Builders <br /> Association,Asian American Contractors Association,Small Business and <br /> Entrepreneurship Council,and others. <br /> These organizations express concern over the artificial restriction on <br /> competition that is inherent in union-only PLAs,and the disproportionate impact <br /> they have on their members,who are discouraged from competing for,and winning, <br /> contracts on public projects in their communities. <br /> This concern over stifling competition and the exclusionary nature of PLAs <br /> is why 25 states have prohibited government-mandated PLAs. In these states, <br /> government cannot require a contractor to enter into a PLA as a condition for <br /> working on a public project. Every public works project is open to all qualified <br /> contractors who want to compete fairly for the opportunity to work in their <br /> community on taxpayer-funded projects. <br /> Conversely,Washington is one of just nine states(along with California, <br /> Connecticut,Hawaii,Illinois,New York,New Jersey,Delaware,Maryland)with an <br /> anti-competitive law expressly encouraging government-mandated PLAs. In these <br /> states,nonunion contractors and their workers are penalized in an unlevel bidding <br /> field that favors union special interests over fair, open,and competitive bidding on <br /> public projects. <br /> In addition to concerns over fairness and equity,the limitations on competition <br /> in PLAs give rise to the question of the impact on the cost of public projects. One <br /> of the defining principles of economics is that reducing competition increases cost. <br /> A number of academic studies show that PLAs increase the cost of construction <br /> projects anywhere from 12 percent to 18 percent, on average.2 The New Jersey <br /> Department of Labor and Workforce Development's 2010 Annual Report to the <br /> Governor and Legislature(examining the impact of PLAs in fiscal year 2008)found <br /> school construction projects completed under a PLA were 30.5 percent higher than <br /> for all non-PLA projects. The report also found PLA projects for that year had a <br /> longer duration than non-PLA projects;the average PLA project took 100 weeks, <br /> compared to just 78 weeks for non-PLA projects.3 <br /> Washington Policy Center asked The Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy <br /> Research to measure the effect of the Washington state directive encouraging the <br /> use of PLAs. This report explores the use of PLAs in Washington,and the effects <br /> PLAs have on competition in the bidding process,specifically the number of bidders <br /> for public construction projects, and the corresponding cost impact. <br /> The findings show public construction projects built under a PLA in <br /> Washington have fewer bidders, on average,than projects completed without a <br /> 2 "Research on Government Mandated Project Labor Agreements,"Associated <br /> Builders and Contractors,accessed on January 9,2019 at https://thetruthaboutplas. <br /> com/2012/12/28/plastudies/ <br /> 3 "Annual Report to the Governor and Legislature:Use of Project Labor Agreements <br /> in Public Works Building Projects in Fiscal Year 2008,"New Jersey Department of <br /> Labor And Workforce Development,October 2010,at www.nj.gov/labor/forms_pdfs/ <br /> legal/2010/PLAReportOct2010.pdf <br /> Iv <br />