I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2042

To amend the Davis-Bacon Act and the Copeland Act to provide new job

opportunities, effect significant cost savings by increasing efficiency and

economy in Federal procurement, promote small and minority business

participation in Federal contracting, increase competition for Federal

construction contracts, reduce unnecessary paperwork and reporting

requirements, clarify the definition of prevailing wage, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 6, 1993

Mr. STENHOLM (for himself, Mr. FAWELL, Mr. VALENTINE, Mr. GOODLING,

Mr. MONTGOMERY, and Mr. INHOFE) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To amend the Davis-Bacon Act and the Copeland Act to

provide new job opportunities, effect significant cost savings by increasing efficiency and economy in Federal

procurement, promote small and minority business participation in Federal contracting, increase competition

for Federal construction contracts, reduce unnecessary

paperwork and reporting requirements, clarify the definition of prevailing wage, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Davis-Bacon Reform Act’’.

4 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act (other than

5 in section 12) an amendment is expressed in terms of an

6 amendment to a section or other provision, the reference

7 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi8 sion of the Act of March 3, 1931, entitled ‘‘An Act relating

9 to the rate of wages for laborers and mechanics employed

10 on public buildings of the United States and the District

11 of Columbia by contractors and subcontractors, and for

12 other purposes’’ (40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.) (commonly re13 ferred to as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’).

14 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN THRESHOLD AMOUNT.

15 Subsection (a) of section 1 (40 U.S.C. 276a(a)) is

16 amended by striking out ‘‘$2,000’’ and inserting in lieu

17 thereof ‘‘$500,000’’.

18 SEC. 3. APPROPRIATE CIVIL SUBDIVISION FOR COMPUTA19 TION OF PREVAILING WAGE.

20 Subsection (a) of section 1 (40 U.S.C. 276(a)) is

21 amended by striking out ‘‘the city, town, village, or other

22 civil subdivision of the State, in which the work is to be

23 performed,’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the particular

24 urban or rural subdivision (of the State) in which the work

25 is to be performed,’’.
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1 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF PREVAILING WAGE.

2 Subsection (a) of section 1 (40 U.S.C. 276(a)) is

3 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

4 sentence: ‘‘In determining the prevailing wage for a class

5 of laborers, mechanics, or helpers where more than a sin6 gle wage is being paid to the corresponding class of labor7 ers, mechanics, or helpers, the Secretary shall establish

8 as the prevailing wage the entire range of wages being

9 paid to such corresponding class of laborers, mechanics,

10 or helpers employed on private industry projects of a char11 acter similar to the contract work in the urban or rural

12 subdivision of the State in which the work is to be per13 formed, or in the District of Columbia if the work is to

14 be performed there.’’.

15 SEC. 5. EXCLUSION OF FEDERAL PROJECTS FROM PRE16 VAILING WAGE COMPUTATION.

17 Subsection (b)(1) of section 1 (40 U.S.C. 276a(b)(1))

18 is amended by inserting before the semicolon the following:

19 ‘‘, excluding the basic hourly rates of pay of individuals

20 whose wages are established pursuant to the requirements

21 of this Act, unless it is determined that there is insuffi22 cient wage data to determine the prevailing wages in the

23 absence of data from such Federal or federally assisted

24 projects’’.
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1 SEC. 6. CLASSIFICATION OF HELPERS.

2 Section 1 (40 U.S.C. 276a) is amended by adding

3 at the end thereof the following new subsection:

4 ‘‘(c)(1) For the purposes of this Act, helpers of labor5 ers or mechanics shall be considered as a separate class

6 and prevailing wages for such helpers shall be determined

7 on the basis of the corresponding class of helpers employed

8 on private industry projects of a character similar to the

9 contract work in the urban or rural subdivision of the

10 State in which the work is to be performed, or in the Dis11 trict of Columbia if the work is to be performed there.

12 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘helper’

13 means a semi-skilled worker (rather than a skilled jour14 neyman mechanic) who—

15 ‘‘(A) works under the direction of and assists a

16 journeyman,

17 ‘‘(B) under the direction and supervision of the

18 journeyman, performs a variety of duties to assist

19 the journeyman, such as—

20 ‘‘(i) preparing, carrying, and furnishing

21 materials, tools, equipment, and supplies and

22 maintaining them in order,

23 ‘‘(ii) cleaning and preparing work areas,

24 ‘‘(iii) lifting, positioning, and holding mate25 rials or tools, and
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1 ‘‘(iv) other related semi-skilled tasks as di2 rected by the journeyman, and

3 ‘‘(C) may use tools of the trade which are

4 under the direction and supervision of the journey5 man.’’.

6 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON CONTRACT-SPLITTING.

7 Section 1 (40 U.S.C. 276a) (as amended by section

8 6) is further amended by adding at the end thereof the

9 following new subsections:

10 ‘‘(d) Any person entering into a contract under which

11 wages are to be determined in accordance with this Act

12 shall not divide any project into contracts of $500,000 or

13 less if the project would not have been so divided but for

14 the purpose of avoiding the application of this Act.

15 ‘‘(e) Whenever the Secretary of Labor determines

16 that a division for such purpose as described in subsection

17 (d) has occurred, the Secretary may—

18 ‘‘(1) require that the contracts, grants, or other

19 instruments providing Federal financing or assist20 ance be amended so as to incorporate retroactively

21 all the provisions which would have been required

22 under this Act or other applicable prevailing wage

23 statute, and

24 ‘‘(2) require the contracting or assisting agency,

25 the recipient of Federal financing or assistance, or
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1 any other entity which awarded the contract or in2 strument providing Federal financing or assistance

3 in violation of this section, to compensate the con4 tractor, the grantee, or other recipient of Federal as5 sistance, as appropriate, for payment to each af6 fected laborer and mechanic, of an amount equal to

7 the difference between the rate received and the ap8 plicable prevailing wage rate, with interest on wages

9 due at the rate specified in section 6621(c) of the

10 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, from the date the

11 work was performed by such laborers and mechan12 ics.

13 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall make a determination that

14 a division for such purpose as described in subsection (d)

15 has occurred only where the Secretary has notified the

16 agency or entity in question not later than 180 days after

17 completion of construction on the project that an inves18 tigation will be conducted concerning an alleged violation

19 of this subsection.’’.

20 SEC. 8. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT APPLYING REFORM TO

21 RELATED ACTS.

22 The Act (40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.) is amended by add23 ing at the end thereof the following new section:

24 ‘‘SEC. 8. No provision of any law requiring the pay25 ment of prevailing wage rates as determined by the Sec-
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1 retary in accordance with this Act shall apply to contracts

2 for construction, alteration, or repair valued at $500,000

3 or less, or in the case of rent supplement assistance or

4 other assistance for which the instrument of Federal fi5 nancing or assistance does not have an aggregate dollar

6 amount, where the assisted project is in the amount of

7 $500,000 or less.’’.

8 SEC. 9. MATCHING FUNDS.

9 The Act (40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.) (as amended by

10 section 8) is further amended by adding at the end thereof

11 the following new section:

12 ‘‘SEC. 9. In the case of a grant or other instrument

13 by which the Federal Government provides to or shares

14 with any State or subdivision thereof funding of a con15 struction, alteration, repair, rehabilitation, reconstruction,

16 or renovation project, any law requiring the payment of

17 prevailing wage rates as determined by the Secretary in

18 accordance with this Act shall apply to that project only

19 if at least 25 percent of the costs of that project are paid

20 by the Federal grant or instrument.’’.

21 SEC. 10. VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION OF SERVICES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Act (40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.)

23 (as amended by sections 8 and 9) is further amended by

24 adding at the end thereof the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 10. The provisions of section 1 of this Act re2 lating to the wages required to be paid shall not apply

3 to any individual—

4 ‘‘(1) who contributes services on a voluntary

5 basis; and

6 ‘‘(2) who—

7 ‘‘(A) does not receive compensation for

8 such services; or

9 ‘‘(B) is paid expenses, reasonable benefits,

10 or a nominal fee for such services; and

11 ‘‘(3) whose contribution of such services is spe12 cifically approved in advance by the contracting or

13 assisting agency, the recipient of Federal financing

14 or assistance, or other entity which awarded the con15 tract or instrument providing Federal financing or

16 assistance, which is the entity in the closest relation

17 to the work to be performed; and

18 ‘‘(4) whose contribution of such services is not

19 for the benefit or competitive advantage of any con20 tractor otherwise performing or seeking to perform

21 work on the same project.’’.

22 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Subsection (b) of

23 section 3 (40 U.S.C. 276a–2) is amended by inserting

24 ‘‘(except as provided for in section 10 of this Act)’’ after

25 ‘‘agreed to accept less than the required rate of wages’’.
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1 SEC. 11. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—The Act (40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.)

3 is amended—

4 (1) by redesignating sections 1 through 6 as

5 sections 2 through 7, respectively; and

6 (2) by inserting before section 2, as so redesig7 nated, the following new section:

8 ‘‘SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the ‘Davis9 Bacon Act’.’’.

10 (b) PAYMENT OF WAGES BY COMPTROLLER GEN11 ERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 4, as so redesignated,

12 (40 U.S.C. 276a–2) is amended by striking out the first

13 sentence and inserting in lieu thereof the following new

14 sentences: ‘‘In accordance with regulations issued by the

15 Secretary pursuant to Reorganization Plan Numbered 14

16 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267), any wages found to be due to

17 laborers, mechanics, and helpers pursuant to this Act shall

18 be paid directly to such laborers, mechanics, and helpers

19 from any accrued payments withheld under the terms of

20 the contract. Any sums due laborers, mechanics, or help21 ers under section 1, not paid because of inability to do

22 so within 3 years, shall revert to or be deposited into the

23 Treasury of the United States. The Administrator of Gen24 eral Services shall distribute a list to all departments of

25 the Government giving the names of persons or firms that
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1 the Secretary has found to have disregarded their obliga2 tions to employees and subcontractors.’’.

3 SEC. 12. COPELAND ACT PAPERWORK REDUCTION AMEND4 MENT.

5 (a) STATEMENTS.—Section 2 of the Act of June 13,

6 1934, entitled ‘‘An Act to effectuate the purpose of certain

7 statutes concerning rates of pay for labor, by making it

8 unlawful to prevent anyone from receiving the compensa9 tion contracted for thereunder, and for other purposes’’

10 (40 U.S.C. 276c) (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Copeland

11 Act’’) is amended by striking out ‘‘shall furnish weekly

12 a statement with respect to the wages paid each employee

13 during the preceding week’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

14 ‘‘shall furnish, at the beginning, midpoint, and conclusion

15 of the period covered by the contract, a statement with

16 respect to the weekly wages paid each employee during

17 such period, except that such statement shall be furnished

18 no less often than every 3 months’’.

19 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 2 of such Act (40 U.S.C.

20 276c) is further amended by adding at the end thereof

21 the following new sentence: ‘‘This section shall not apply

22 to any contract or project that is exempted by its size from

23 the application of the Davis-Bacon Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 13. REPORTS REQUIRED.

2 Beginning 1 year after the effective date of the

3 amendments made by this Act, and at intervals of 1 year

4 thereafter, the Secretary of Labor and the Comptroller

5 General of the United States shall each prepare and sub6 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report

7 describing the results of a review of the implementation,

8 enforcement, administration, impact on local wages, and

9 impact on local and national economies of the Act of

10 March 3, 1931 (the Davis-Bacon Act), the Act of June

11 13, 1934 (the Copeland Act), and the amendments made

12 by this Act during the preceding 12-month period, includ13 ing recommendations for such further legislation as may

14 be appropriate.

15 SEC. 14. EFFECTIVE DATE.

16 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

17 on the date that is 60 days after the date of enactment

18 of this Act but shall not affect any contract in existence

19 on that date or made pursuant to invitations for bids out20 standing on that date.

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