Rep. Gosar Introduces Bill to Reform Federal Contracting, Save Taxpayers Up to $86 Billion

Statement

Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after introducing H.R. 1042, the Responsibility in Federal Contracting Act, which would require the calculation of wages for public works projects be based on actual wage statistics calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

"In order to begin chipping away at our massive $20 trillion federal debt, elected leaders must search for bold ideas to solve this spending crisis. It begins with creating a culture of eliminating federal waste, fraud and abuse, from top to bottom. A great place to start is reforming the calculation used for determining wages for public works projects which currently costs American taxpayers up to $86 billion over ten years more than it should.

"The current fundamentally flawed calculation dates back to the 1930's and is riddled with fraud and abuse as evidenced by multiple IG and Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports. Overall, these wage rates average 22% above market wages--inflating the cost of federal construction projects, keeping employers from hiring more workers, and locking low-skilled workers out of many construction jobs for which they could otherwise be hired. This bill facilitates competition, equality, accuracy and transparency for everyone while restoring a fair wage for a fair job that is fair to the American taxpayer."

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