In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, ABC expressed concerns about Treasury’s guidance on $350 billion worth of federal funding for state and local fiscal recovery allocated in the American Rescue Plan and the encouragement of project labor agreements on federally assisted water, sewer and broadband projects.

ABC’s letter highlights our support for fair and open competition in federal contracts for construction jobs and requests that Treasury further provide guidance that clarifies that state and local governments are in no way required to mandate PLAs on eligible construction projects and that the federal government’s encouragement of PLAs will not become a mandate or requirement at a later date.

While the guidance does not mandate tying PLAs to federal assistance, it is a sign of the efforts the Biden administration is taking to support PLAs and other costly labor provisions that would have damaging effects on the construction industry.