This paper attempts to give substantial evidence that the Davis-Bacon Act should be repealed. While there are some positive results from the Act such as attracting people into the construction industry, there are several more negative consequences that American business and society have suffered due to the enforcement of this federal Act. It is the opinion of this writer that the negative consequences far outweigh the positive and that the Act should be repealed. The following are eight arguments for repeal are the salient points of this paper: (1) The Act penalizes minorities; (2) The Act costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year; (3) The Act imposes burdensome paperwork requirements; (4) The Act unfairly subsidizes unions; (5) The Act causes induced unemployment by setting a super minimum wage; (6) Non-prevailing rate construction projects are just as safe as prevailing rate projects; (7) The quality of construction on non-prevailing rate projects is just as good as the quality on prevailing rate projects; and (8) The social consequences of the Act are unnecessary unemployment, degradation, and even loss of public services due to the high cost of construction, and a low representation of minorities in the construction industries.
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