HR 2396 IH

To provide that the Davis-Bacon Act shall not apply to contracts for the construction and repair of schools and libraries.

June 30, 1999

Mr. CUNNINGHAM (for himself, Mr. GOSS, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. PITTS, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. RILEY, Mr. PAUL, Mr. GARY MILLER of California, and Mr. TIAHRT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

To provide that the Davis-Bacon Act shall not apply to contracts for the construction and repair of schools and libraries.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `School and Library Construction Affordability Act'.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

The purpose of the amendments made by this Act is--

(1) to amend the Act of March 3, 1931 (40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.) (commonly referred to as the Davis-Bacon Act) to make it inapplicable to contracts for school or library construction and repair and thereby reduce school construction and repair costs by 5 to 38 percent and thereby saving funds that can be used to improve education, repair and construct modern schools and libraries, and provide tax relief; and

(2) to harmonize Federal laws with a majority of the States.

SEC. 3. DAVIS-BACON ACT.

The first section of the Act of March 3, 1931 (40 U.S.C. 276a) (commonly referred to as the Davis-Bacon Act) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to any contract which is entered into to construct or repair facilities of an educational agency or library.'.

SEC. 4. COPELAND ACT.

Section 2 of the Act of June 13, 1934 (40 U.S.C. 276c) (commonly referred to as the `Copeland Act') is amended by adding at the end the following: `This section does not apply to any contractor or subcontractor which is engaged in the construction or repair of facilities of an educational agency or library.

SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION.

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act may be construed to diminish in any way the quality of facility construction or repair or to affect Federal, State, and local guidelines, codes, and regulations relating to construction or repair quality.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

The amendments made by sections 1 and 2 shall take effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act but shall not affect any contract in existence on such date of enactment or made pursuant to invitation for bids outstanding on such date of enactment.

END