Kudos to Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and 171 of his Democratic colleagues for introducing legislation to undo the president’s executive order that suspended the Davis-Bacon Act along the Gulf Coast, allowing federal contractors to pay local workers less money on construction projects.
Representative George Miller (D-CA) introduced legislation [Sept. 13] that would undo President Bush’s proclamation…that cuts wages for workers involved in the reconstruction of areas damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and its subsequent flooding.
“As workers in the Gulf Coast go about rebuilding their communities, they must also earn wages that will begin to help them rebuild their own lives,” said Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “This legislation would undo President Bush’s grievous anti-worker action and ensure that workers on federal construction projects earn a decent wage for their hard work.”
Under federal law, companies that win federal construction contracts must pay workers the prevailing wage – the wage typical for their specific job function in the local area where the work is being completed. Bush’s proclamation suspends this wage requirement indefinitely in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, including parts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. Miller’s legislation would overturn the President’s proclamation.
“While the Administration is giving out no-bid contracts that fail to protect the taxpayer, it is also exploiting Hurricane Katrina to undermine the wages of the most desperate workers in our country. This is the most callous and misguided step the Administration could take at this time,” said Miller.
As Josh Marshall noted yesterday, the bill, H.R. 3763, has exactly zero Republican co-sponsors. (New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) decried Bush’s move on this, but he’s not in Congress, so he doesn’t count.)
This bill is definitely worth keeping an eye on. I suspect it’s going to be — or at least should be — a principal focus of House Dems in the coming weeks. Also, I’d be even more encouraged if Senate Dems picked up on this and introduce a companion bill.
Post Script: This is just a tangent, but what’s up with Rep. Tom Price (R) of Georgia? Price, a far-right but relatively low-profile lawmaker from Georgia, seems a little confused about all of this. On Sept. 13, he praised Bush for suspending Davis-Bacon. On Sept. 14, he signed on as a co-sponsor to H.R. 3763, which would have overturned Bush’s decision. On Sept. 15, Price withdrew his support. Was he just not paying attention?