Kentucky Joins 24 Other States in Banning Government-mandated PLAs

​Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin recently signed off on a House bill that will prohibit state and local government agencies from "forcing bidders to sign on to project labor agreements (PLAs) for public work projects," according to an article by ​Construction Dive. ​This now makes Kentucky the 25th state in the U.S. to enact a law that will ban government-mandated PLAs, with caveats.

This new law does not outright ban PLAs: Contractors can still enter into voluntary PLAs. This regulation will be applied to taxpayer-funded projects and favors open-shop rather than union-affiliated construction projects, according to Associated Builders and Contractors.

Those in favor of the law claim it will lower the costs of construction while those opposed claim, according to ​Construction Dive, "mandatory PLAs are not in use in the state and that 100% of the voluntary ones are with merit shop contractors."

—Christie Citranglo, editorial associate