{
  "id": "RL33100",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL33100",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 314307,
      "date": "2006-02-08",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:14:37.978029",
      "title": "The Davis-Bacon Act: Suspension",
      "summary": "The Davis-Bacon Act is one of several statutes that deals with federal government procurement. \n(See also the Walsh-Healey Act of 1936 and the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965.) \nEnacted in 1931, Davis-Bacon requires,  inter alia , that  not less than  the\nlocally prevailing wage be\npaid to workers engaged in federal contract construction. The act does not deal directly with\nnon-federal construction. In addition to the act  per se , the prevailing wage principle has\nbeen\nincorporated within a series of federal program statutes through the years. And, many states have\nenacted \"little Davis-Bacon\" acts of their own.\n The act of 1931, as amended, provides that the President \"may suspend the provisions of this\nsubchapter during a national emergency.\" With slight variation, that provision has been a part of the\nstatute since it was enacted.\n The act has been suspended explicitly on four separate occasions: (a) In 1934, President\nFranklin Roosevelt suspended the act in what appears to have been for administrative convenience\nassociated with New Deal legislation. It was restored to full strength in less than 30 days with few\npeople, seemingly, aware of the suspension. (b) In 1971, President Richard Nixon suspended the\nact as part of a campaign intended to quell inflationary pressures that affected the construction\nindustry. In just over four weeks, the act was reinstated, the President moving on to different\napproaches to the problem. (c) In 1992, in the wake of Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki, President\nGeorge H. W. Bush suspended the act in order to render reconstruction and clean-up in Florida and\nthe Gulf Coast and in Hawaii more efficient. The impact of the suspension is unclear for the act was\nsuspended on October 14, 1992, just days prior to the 1992 election. President William Clinton\nrestored the act on March 6, 1993. And, (d) on September 8, 2005, President George W. Bush\nsuspended the act in order to render more efficient reconstruction and clean-up of Florida and the\nGulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The act was reinstated on November 8, 2005.\n In the suspensions of 1934 and 1971, the suspension applied to the entire country -- possibly\nwith the understanding that it would be restored once the immediate  emergency  was\nover. In 1992\nand in 2005, only portions of the country were involved. In 1992, it remains unclear how long the\nsuspension might have lasted -- if George H. W. Bush had been re-elected. Similarly, the suspension\nunder George W. Bush was intended to be open-ended -- i.e., \"until otherwise provided.\" But in fact,\nit lasted for about two months. The suspensions are also separated by the definition of \"national\nemergency\" used to invoke them: administrative convenience in 1934, inflationary pressures in the\nconstruction industry in 1971, and issues associated with hurricane damages in 1992 and in 2005.\n This report reviews the several cases during which the Davis-Bacon Act was suspended and will\nlikely be updated as developments make necessary.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7665/",
      "id": "RL33100 2005-09-26",
      "date": "2005-09-26",
      "retrieved": "2005-11-02T15:21:42",
      "title": "The Davis-Bacon Act: Suspension",
      "summary": "The Davis-Bacon Act is one of several statutes that deals with federal government procurement. Enacted in 1931, Davis-Bacon requires, inter alia, that not less than the locally prevailing wage be paid to workers engaged in federal contract construction. This report reviews the several cases during which the Davis-Bacon Act was suspended and will likely be updated as developments make necessary.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20050926_RL33100_40c68640a282e6cf751ae84b19a07c9b26fe3011.html"
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      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Labor",
          "name": "Labor"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "War and emergency powers",
          "name": "War and emergency powers"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Government contractors",
          "name": "Government contractors"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Davis-Bacon Act",
          "name": "Davis-Bacon Act"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Presidents",
          "name": "Presidents"
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        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Public contracts",
          "name": "Public contracts"
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  "topics": []
}