II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2077

To provide for waivers of the requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act with

respect to certain Federal programs as such requirements relate to volunteers, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 4 (legislative day, MAY 2), 1994

Mr. HATFIELD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To provide for waivers of the requirements of the DavisBacon Act with respect to certain Federal programs as

such requirements relate to volunteers, 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 ‘‘Community Improve5 ment Volunteer Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the ethic of civic responsibility, the spirit of

2 community and the belief in volunteerism have all

3 been fundamental principles guiding this country’s

4 evolution;

5 (2) Americans persist in their desire to affirm

6 their sense of humanity, community, civic respon7 sibility and shared values;

8 (3) volunteerism plays a vital role in helping the

9 American people meet these mores;

10 (4) throughout the United States, there are

11 pressing unmet public needs that will benefit and

12 serve the local community or disadvantaged groups

13 within the community (such as food banks, homeless

14 shelters, parks, day care centers, youth centers, drug

15 and alcohol abuse rehabilitation centers, libraries,

16 and similar entities);

17 (5) expanding opportunities for volunteerism

18 can assist a community in meeting many of these

19 unmet public needs resulting in tangible benefits to

20 society at little or no cost to the public;

21 (6) many Federal laws that authorize financial

22 assistance for the construction of public buildings

23 and public works require the application of the pre24 vailing wage-setting provisions of the Act of March

25 3, 1931 (commonly known as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon
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1 Act’’) (40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.) which sets minimum

2 wages and fringe benefits which must be paid to var3 ious classes of laborers and mechanics who are em4 ployed on such projects;

5 (7) these prevailing wage-setting provisions of

6 the Davis-Bacon Act protect the labor standards of

7 working men and women in the locality where the

8 federally-assisted project is to be constructed, sig9 nificantly contribute to the achievement of a decent

10 standard of living for local area working families,

11 and contribute to safeguarding and providing em12 ployment opportunities for women and minorities in

13 the construction industry;

14 (8) the prevailing wage-setting provisions of the

15 Davis-Bacon Act create incentives for contractors

16 and subcontractors seeking federally-assisted and in17 sured contracts and subcontracts to establish and

18 support apprenticeship programs which provide op19 portunities for women and minorities to receive

20 training that enables them to become fully qualified

21 laborers and mechanics in the construction industry;

22 and

23 (9) in order to achieve these objectives, the pre24 vailing wage-setting provisions of the Davis-Bacon

25 Act have been uniformly applied to all laborers and
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1 mechanics who performed work on federally-assisted

2 public building and public works projects regardless

3 of their status as volunteers, unless an express ex4 ception is specifically provided for in a particular

5 Federal law under which the Federal funding is

6 authorized.

7 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

8 It is the purpose of this Act to promote and provide

9 more opportunities for people who wish to volunteer their

10 services in the construction, repair or alteration, including

11 painting and decorating, of public buildings and public

12 works funded, in whole or in part, with Federal financial

13 assistance authorized under certain Federal programs that

14 might not otherwise be possible without the use of volun15 teers, by waiving the application of the otherwise applica16 ble prevailing wage-setting provisions of the Act of March

17 3, 1931 (commonly known as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’) (40

18 U.S.C. 276a et seq.) to such volunteers.

19 SEC. 4. WAIVER.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The requirement that certain la21 borers and mechanics be paid in accordance with the

22 wage-setting provisions of the Act of March 3, 1931 (com23 monly known as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’) (40 U.S.C. 276a

24 et seq.) as set forth in any of the Acts or provisions de25 scribed in subsection (d), and the provisions relating to
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1 wages, in any federally assisted or insured contract or sub2 contract for construction, shall not apply to any individ3 ual—

4 (1) who volunteers—

5 (A) to perform a service for a public or

6 private entity for civic, charitable, or humani7 tarian reasons, without promise, expectation or

8 receipt of compensation for services rendered

9 other than expenses, reasonable benefits, or a

10 nominal fee (as defined in subsection (b)), but

11 solely for the personal purpose or pleasure of

12 the individual; and

13 (B) to provide such services freely and

14 without pressure or coercion, direct or implied,

15 from an employer;

16 (2) whose contribution of service is not for the

17 benefit of any contractor otherwise performing or

18 seeking to perform work on the same project; and

19 (3) who is not otherwise employed at any time

20 under the federally assisted or insured contract or

21 subcontract involved for construction with respect to

22 the project for which the individual is volunteering.

23 (b) EXPENSES.—Payments of expenses, reasonable

24 benefits, or a nominal fee may be provided to volunteers

25 described in subsection (a) if the Secretary of Labor deter-
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1 mines, after an examination of the total amount of pay2 ments made (expenses, benefits, fees) in the context of the

3 economic realities of the specific federally assisted or in4 sured project, that such payments are appropriate. Sub5 ject to such a determination—

6 (1) a payment for an expense may be received

7 by a volunteer for items such as uniform allowances,

8 protective gear and clothing, reimbursement for ap9 proximate out-of-pocket expenses, or for the cost or

10 expense of meals and transportation;

11 (2) a reasonable benefit may include the inclu12 sion of a volunteer in a group insurance plan (such

13 as a liability, health, life, disability, or worker’s com14 pensation plan) or pension plan or the awarding of

15 a length of service award; and

16 (3) a nominal fee may not be used as a sub17 stitute for compensation and must not be tied to

18 productivity.

19 The decision as to what constitutes a nominal fee for pur20 poses of paragraph (3) shall be made on a case-by-case

21 basis and in the context of the economic realities of the

22 situation involved.

23 (c) ECONOMIC REALITY.—For purposes of subsection

24 (b), in determining whether an expense, benefit or fee de25 scribed in such subsection may be paid to volunteers in
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1 the context of the economic realities of the particular situ2 ation, the Secretary of Labor shall not approve any such

3 expense, benefit or fee which has the effect of undermining

4 labor standards by creating downward pressure on prevail5 ing wages in the local construction industry.

6 (d) CONTRACTS EXEMPTED.—For purposes of sub7 section (a), the Acts or provisions described in this sub8 section are the following:

9 (1) The Library Services and Construction Act.

10 (2) The Indian Self-Determination and Edu11 cation Assistance Act.

12 (3) Section 329 of the Public Health Service

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 254b).

14 (4) Section 330 of the Public Health Service

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 254c).

16 SEC. 5. REPORT.

17 Not later than December 31, 1997, the Secretary of

18 Labor shall prepare and submit to the appropriate com19 mittees of Congress a report that—

20 (1) identifies and assesses, to the maximum ex21 tent practicable—

22 (A) the projects for which volunteers were

23 permitted to work under this Act; and
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1 (B) the number of volunteers permitted to

2 work because of the compliance of entities with

3 the provisions of this Act; and

4 (2) contains recommendations with respect to

5 other Davis-Bacon-related Acts that could be ad6 dressed to permit volunteer work.

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