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In 2009,the U.S.Department of Labor selected Manchester,New Hampshire to build a new Jobs <br /> Corps Center with a PLA mandate. However,non-union contractors complained that many New <br /> Hampshire construction contractors were non-union and that the PLA would favor contractors <br /> from out of state. A non-union contractor filed a bid protest with the GAO against the PLA <br /> mandate, and in the face of political pressure and an unfavorable ruling against the Labor <br /> Department,the PLA was eventually dropped,and the project rebid without a PLA. The second <br /> round of bidding produced three times as many bidders and bid prices that were 16 percent <br /> lower, ultimately saving taxpayers $6.2 million and allowing a local company to deliver the <br /> award-winning project on-time and on budget.25 <br /> Similar successful protests against proposed PLA mandates on federal projects resulted in <br /> relatively few PLAs being mandated on large-scale federal projects during the Obama <br /> administration. Roughly 12 large-scale federal contracts (totaling$1.256 billion) were subject to <br /> PLA mandates or preferences compared to 1,471 contracts (totaling $82.69 billion) without <br /> government-mandated PLAs. <br /> An unknown number of PLA mandates have proliferated on federally assisted projects procured <br /> by state and local governments. For example, according to a February 2017 report by the U.S. <br /> Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), over the last seven <br /> years, state and local government authorities mandated PLAs on 382 similar state and local <br /> contracts(totaling$8.7 billion)receiving federal assistance from the FHWA 26 To date,the Trump <br /> administration has not taken any action on PLAs. <br /> State governments also have enacted legislation on the use of PLAs. A total of 25 states have <br /> adopted measures restricting the use of government-mandated PLAs on state,state-assisted and <br /> 25Ted Siefer,"NH firm wins contract to build$35M job center in Manchester after years-long fight," The <br /> New Hampshire Union Leader,(April 21,2013), <br /> http://www.unionleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013130429519&NL=1&template=printart#sthash <br /> EwolItG4.dpuf. <br /> 26 U.S.Department of Transportation,Federal Highway Administration,Interim Guidance on the use of <br /> Project Labor Agreements,(May 7,2010),https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/contracts/100507.cfm. <br /> The Anticompetitive Effects of Project Labor Agreements on Public Construction in Washington State 11 <br />