The Davis-Bacon Act mandates payment of local prevailing wages on projects funded by the federal government. It prevents competition for federal construction contracts from artificially depressing local labor standards. Studies show, however, that such a race to the bottom does not substantially cut public construction costs, but worker skills, experience and motivation drop dramatically.

Subverting prevailing wage laws often leads to shoddy construction and substantial cost overruns. Under prevailing wage laws, contractors are forced to compete on the basis of who can best train, best equip and best manage a construction crew – not on the basis of who can assemble the cheapest, most exploitable workforce—either locally or through importing labor from elsewhere.