White House Signs Off on Rule for Federal Infrastructure Wages

The White House’s regulatory office has completed review of a U.S. Department of Labor proposal that would address how contractors are paid when working on federally funded infrastructure projects, signaling it could be released soon.

The proposal would “update and modernize” the Davis-Bacon Act to “provide greater clarity” and enhance the law’s “usefulness in the modern economy,” according to a White House summary.

The 1931 law requires workers on federally funded construction projects to receive “prevailing wages,” or pay and benefits equal to local rates for similar jobs. Building trades unions have long criticized how the law has been ...