The Davis-Bacon Act: Suspension

Publication Date: September 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Business

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Abstract:

The Davis-Bacon Act is one of several statutes that deals with federal government procurement. (See also the Walsh-Healey Act of 1936 and the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965.) Enacted in 1931, Davis-Bacon requires, inter alia, that not less than the locally prevailing wage be paid to workers engaged in federal contract construction. The act does not deal directly with nonfederal construction. In addition to the act, per se, the prevailing wage principle has been incorporated within a series of federal program statutes through the years. And, many states have enacted "little Davis-Bacon" acts of their own.

The act of 1931, as amended, provides that the President "may suspend the provisions of this subchapter during a national emergency." (With slight variation, that provision has been a part of the statute since it was enacted.)

The act has been suspended explicitly on four separate occasions. (a) In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt suspended the act in what appears to have been for administrative convenience associated with New Deal legislation. It was restored to full strength in less than 30 days with few people, seemingly, aware of the suspension. (b) In 1971, President Richard Nixon suspended the act as part of a campaign intended to quell inflationary pressures that affected the construction industry. In just over four weeks, the act was reinstated, the President moving on to different approaches to the problem. (c) In 1992, in the wake of Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki, President George H. W. Bush suspended the act in order to render reconstruction and clean-up in Florida and the Gulf Coast and in Hawaii more efficient. The impact of the suspension is unclear for the act was suspended on October 14, 1992, just days prior to the 1992 election. President William Clinton restored the Act on March 6, 1993. And, (d) on September 8, 2005, President George W. Bush suspended the act in order to render more efficient reconstruction and cleanup of Florida and the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The act may also have been suspended during World War II as part of the generalized emergency.

In the suspensions of 1934 and 1971, the suspension applied to the entire country -- possibly with the understanding that it would be restored once the immediate emergency was over. In 1992 and in 2005, only portions of the country were involved. In 1992, it remains unclear how long the suspension might have lasted -- if George H. W. Bush had been re-elected. Similarly, the suspension under George W. Bush is, in the short-term, open-ended -- i.e., "until otherwise provided." The suspensions are also separated by the definition of "national emergency" used to invoke them: administrative convenience in 1934, inflationary pressures in the construction industry in 1971, and issues associated with hurricane damages in 1992 and in 2005.

This report reviews the several cases during which the Davis-Bacon Act was suspended and will likely be updated as developments make necessary.