Is there a connection between safety and health for workers and communities and the Davis-Bacon Act?
Yes. The skilled, trained and dedicated workers who are hired at prevailing wages are trained to work safely. Better project safety and quality mean fewer risks of environmental or health disasters to communities. By preventing shoddy, unsafe work which can occur from employing poorly trained workers, our society actually saves money on environmental and economic clean-up costs. Q: How can you argue that Davis-Bacon adheres to market principles? A: Because government plays by the rules set by the private sector in the free market. Large-scale government spending on highways, bridges, office buildings, harbors, sewage treatment plans, military construction and other projects has the potential to skew the market and throw it out of balance, with serious consequences for private industry. Davis-Bacon makes government play a neutral role by paying the same average wages paid by the private sector. It imposes no artificial standards, and instead respects market forces. Q: Have we seen any e
