I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1053 

To amend subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, 

regarding prevalent wage determinations in order to expand access to 

affordable housing, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2023 

Ms. VAN DUYNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 

States Code, regarding prevalent wage determinations 

in order to expand access to affordable housing, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Housing Supply Ex5 pansion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UPDATES TO WAGE RATE CALCULATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3142(b) of title 40, 

3 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or from geo4 graphic groupings other than civil subdivisions of the 

5 State (which may include metropolitan statistical areas or 

6 other groupings determined appropriate by the Secretary) 

7 in which the work is to be performed’’ after ‘‘in which 

8 the work is to be performed’’. 

9 (b) CHANGES TO SURVEY METHODOLOGY.—Section 

10 3142 of title 40, United States Code, is amended by add11 ing at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(f) SURVEY INFORMATION COLLECTION.—By not 

13 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Hous14 ing Supply Expansion Act, the Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) review the Secretary’s method of collecting 

16 survey information for determining prevailing wages 

17 for purposes of subsection (a); and 

18 ‘‘(2) revise how such survey information is col19 lected, following a public notice and opportunity for 

20 public comment, by— 

21 ‘‘(A) including surveys that allow for reli22 able and objective sources of data and a defend23 able methodology, which may include informa24 tion collected through Bureau of Labor Statis25 tics surveys; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) improving the percentage of busi2 nesses choosing to participate in prevailing 

3 wage determination surveys and ensuring pro4 portional representation of businesses rep5 resented by labor organizations and businesses 

6 not represented by labor organizations in the 

7 prevailing wage determination surveys that are 

8 completed.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. MULTIPLE WAGE RATE DETERMINATIONS. 

10 Section 3142 of title 40, United States Code, as 

11 amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at 

12 the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(g) FEDERAL HOUSING ACTS.—A determination of 

14 prevailing wages by the Secretary of Labor applicable 

15 under section 212(a) of the National Housing Act (12 

16 U.S.C. 1715c(a)), section 104(b)(1) of the Native Amer17 ican Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act of 

18 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4114(b)(1)), section 12(a) of the United 

19 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437j(a)), or sec20 tion 811(j)(5) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford21 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(j)(5)) shall be limited 

22 to 1 wage rate determination under subsection (b) of this 

23 section that corresponds to the overall residential char24 acter of the project.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DAVIS-BACON MODERNIZATION WORKING GROUP. 

2 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Davis3 Bacon Modernization Working Group’’ means the working 

4 group established under subsection (b)(1). 

5 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

8 Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing 

9 and Urban Development, shall establish within the 

10 Department of Labor, a Davis-Bacon Modernization 

11 Working Group to recommend the update and mod12 ernization of certain requirements under subchapter 

13 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, as 

14 described in subsection (c). 

15 (2) DATE OF ESTABLISHMENT.—The Davis16 Bacon Modernization Working Group shall be con17 sidered established on the date on which a majority 

18 of the members of the Davis-Bacon Working Group 

19 have been appointed, consistent with subsection (d). 

20 (c) DUTIES.—The Davis-Bacon Modernization Work21 ing Group shall— 

22 (1) recommend whether, and if so by how 

23 much, the residential classification can be applied to 

24 affordable housing units with 5 stories or more for 

25 purposes of prevailing wage determinations under 


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1 subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 

2 States Code; 

3 (2) develop administrative and legislative rec4 ommendations of ways, and for what specific cir5 cumstances in which, the prevailing wage rate re6 quirements under subchapter IV of chapter 31 of 

7 title 40, United States Code, could be waived or 

8 streamlined for certain affordable rental Federal 

9 Housing Administration new construction projects; 

10 and 

11 (3) review the potential positive and negative 

12 outcomes of directing the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

13 to determine prevailing wages (rather than the Sec14 retary of Labor under section 3142(b) of title 40, 

15 United States Code), in a way that would not rely 

16 on the collection of voluntary surveys from busi17 nesses but rather on data that is already collected 

18 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

19 (d) MEMBERS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Davis-Bacon Mod21 ernization Working Group shall be composed of the 

22 following representatives of Federal agencies and 

23 relevant non-Federal industry stakeholder organiza24 tions: 


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1 (A) A representative from the Department 

2 of Labor, appointed by the Secretary of Labor. 

3 (B) A representative from the Department 

4 of Housing and Urban Development, appointed 

5 by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel6 opment. 

7 (C) A representative of a housing construc8 tion industry association, appointed by the Sec9 retary of Labor in consultation with the Sec10 retary of Housing and Urban Development. 

11 (D) A representative of a financial services 

12 industry association, appointed by the Secretary 

13 of Labor in consultation with the Secretary of 

14 Housing and Urban Development. 

15 (E) A representative of an affordable hous16 ing industry association, appointed by the Sec17 retary of Labor in consultation with the Sec18 retary of Housing and Urban Development. 

19 (F) A representative of a State public 

20 housing agency, as defined in section 3 of the 

21 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

22 1437a), appointed by the Secretary of Labor in 

23 consultation with the Secretary of Housing and 

24 Urban Development. 


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1 (G) A representative of a tribally des2 ignated housing entity, as defined in section 4 

3 of the Native American Housing Assistance and 

4 Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 

5 4103), appointed by the Secretary of Labor in 

6 consultation with the Secretary of Housing and 

7 Urban Development. 

8 (H) A representative of a labor organiza9 tion representing the housing construction 

10 workforce, appointed by the Secretary of Labor 

11 in consultation with the Secretary of Housing 

12 and Urban Development. 

13 (2) CHAIR.—The representative from the De14 partment of Labor appointed under paragraph 

15 (1)(A) shall serve as the chair of the Davis-Bacon 

16 Modernization Working Group, and that representa17 tive shall be responsible for organizing the business 

18 of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group. 

19 (e) OTHER MATTERS.— 

20 (1) NO COMPENSATION.—A member of the 

21 Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall 

22 serve without compensation. 

23 (2) SUPPORT.—The Secretary of Labor may 

24 detail an employee of the Department of Labor to 

25 assist and support the work of the Davis-Bacon 


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1 Modernization Working Group, though such a 

2 detailee shall not be considered to be a member of 

3 the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group. 

4 (f) REPORT.— 

5 (1) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

6 date on which the Davis-Bacon Modernization Work7 ing Group is established, the Davis-Bacon Mod8 ernization Working Group shall submit a report con9 taining its findings and recommendations under sub10 section (c), including recommendations resulting 

11 from the review under subsection (c)(3), to the Sec12 retary of Labor, the Committee on Health, Edu13 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 

14 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

15 House of Representatives. 

16 (2) MAJORITY SUPPORT.—Each recommenda17 tion made under paragraph (1) shall be agreed to by 

18 a majority of the members of the Davis-Bacon Mod19 ernization Working Group. 

20 (g) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Ad21 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 

22 the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group. 

23 (h) SUNSET.—The Davis-Bacon Modernization 

24 Working Group shall terminate on the date the report is 

25 completed under subsection (f)(1). 


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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL HOUSING ACT. 

2 Section 212(a) of the National Housing Act (12 

3 U.S.C. 1715c(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘similar char4 acter, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accord5 ance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 

6 276a—276a–5)’’ and inserting ‘‘residential character, as 

7 determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with 

8 subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States 

9 Code, that is applicable at the time the application is 

10 filed’’. 

11 SEC. 6. HOUSING ACT OF 1959. 

12 Section 202(j)(5)(A) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 

13 U.S.C. 1701q(j)(5)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘similar 

14 character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in ac15 cordance with the Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly known 

16 as the Davis-Bacon Act)’’ and inserting ‘‘residential char17 acter, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accord18 ance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 

19 States Code, that is applicable at the time the application 

20 is filed’’. 

21 SEC. 7. NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND 

22 SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 1996. 

23 Section 104(b)(1) of the Native American Housing 

24 Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 

25 4114(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘, as predetermined 

26 by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to the Act of March 


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1 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act; chap2 ter 411; 46 Stat. 1494; 40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.),’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘for corresponding classes of laborers and me4 chanics employed on construction of a residential char5 acter, as predetermined by the Secretary of Labor pursu6 ant to subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 

7 States Code, that is applicable at the time the application 

8 is filed’’. 

9 SEC. 8. CRANSTON-GONZALEZ NATIONAL AFFORDABLE 

10 HOUSING ACT. 

11 Section 811(j)(5)(A) of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na12 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(j)(5)(A)) 

13 is amended by striking ‘‘similar character, as determined 

14 by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Act of 

15 March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon 

16 Act)’’ and inserting ‘‘residential character, as determined 

17 by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 

18 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, that is 

19 applicable at the time the application is filed’’. 

20 SEC. 9. UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937. 

21 Section 12(a) of the United States Housing Act of 

22 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437j(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘, as 

23 predetermined by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to the 

24 Davis-Bacon Act (49 Stat. 1011)’’ and inserting ‘‘for cor25 responding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on 


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1 construction of a residential character, as predetermined 

2 by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to subchapter IV of 

3 chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, that is applica4 ble at the time the application is filed’’. 

Æ 


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