Council committee vets OCP FY26 budget as witnesses clash over project labor agreements

Council Member Brianne Nadeau, chair of the Committee on Public Works and Operations, convened a June 2, 2025 hearing in Room 123 of the Wilson Building and on Zoom to review Mayor Muriel Bowser's proposed fiscal year 2026 budget for the Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP). The hearing featured public witnesses who debated a Budget Support Act subtitle that would curb the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on District construction projects and OCP leadership who described planned IT and process investments for procurement modernization.

The proposed FY26 operating budget for OCP, as presented during the hearing, is $29,449,962 and includes 205 full-time equivalents; OCP's proposed capital funding discussed at the hearing includes line items for modernization work on the procurement automated support system (PASS) and related projects. Committee members questioned agency officials on a range of topics including a shift of some operating costs to the surplus property revenue (SPR) fund, planned PASS modernization, a proposed certified business enterprise (CBE) online marketplace, transparency portal performance, and staffing reductions.

The hearing opened with a contested policy debate. Marcus Jackson, director of government affairs for Associated Builders and Contractors of Metro Washington, testified in support of the Project Labor Agreement Amendment Act of 2025 (Title 6, Subtitle 1 of the Budget Support Act), telling the committee that limiting PLAs would "save district taxpayers millions by postponing and limiting the use of project labor agreements on district construction procurement for the next 6 years." Jackson argued PLAs reduce competition and cited RAND studies to claim PLA requirements raise costs and completion times on some projects. "When PLAs are imposed on public projects, taxpayers pay more to get less," he said.

Kathy Humm, founder of NTP HR (a woman-owned small business) and chair-elect of the…