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House adopts resolution urging end to federal project labor agreements for major construction projects
Summary
The South Dakota House of Representatives adopted a concurrent resolution on Feb. 12 urging Congress and the president to remove a federal requirement that project labor agreements be used on certain large federal construction contracts.
The South Dakota House of Representatives adopted House Concurrent Resolution 6002 on Feb. 12, urging the U.S. Congress and the president to remove a federal requirement that project labor agreements (PLAs) be used on certain federally contracted construction projects. Representative David Jorgensen, the resolution’s sponsor, framed the measure as a response to what he described as the practical effect of the PLA requirement on local contractors and apprenticeship pipelines.
Jorgensen said the executive action put into place in February 2022 requires a PLA for federally contracted construction projects with a total estimated cost of $35,000,000 or more. “What a project labor agreement is is a pre‑hire collective bargaining agreement with a labor organization,” Jorgensen said on the House floor, and he argued that in a right‑to‑work state such provisions can exclude nonunion contractors from bidding and working on projects.
In floor remarks Jorgensen cited projects including Ellsworth Air Force Base, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in Hot Springs and Sioux Falls, and Fort Meade as instances where PLAs now apply. He said a Rapid City plumbing contractor reported losing between 5% and 15% of its journeyman plumbers after unions began recruiting for PLA‑covered work, and that the company hired zero first‑year apprentices in 2024 — a change the sponsor tied to the PLA requirement.
Supporters urged state and federal remedies. Jorgensen and others described ongoing efforts by U.S. Sen. John Thune and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson to seek Department of Defense or Army Corps of Engineers waivers, and he said rescission of a presidential executive order would be the preferred fix.
The resolution is an expression of the Legislature’s view and does not change state or federal contracting law. The measure passed the House by voice and recorded vote; the clerk announced the tally as 63 ayes, 5 nays and 1 excused. The adopted concurrent resolution will be sent as the House’s formal request to federal officials.
