Exactly how far does the federal government’s power to regulate publicly funded construction projects go? According to the Labor Department, it goes all the way to privately funded construction projects. The feds and the D.C. government are currently engaged in a struggle over precisely this issue. For the city, the stakes are about $20 million. For the nation, the stakes are whether yet another drag is placed on this sputtering economic recovery.
Here’s what happened: CityCenterDC is a privately funded $700 million development project. It was not commissioned by the city or the feds, nor will they occupy any part of it when it is completed. Nevertheless, the carpenters union has pushed the Labor Department to apply the Davis-Bacon Act to the project. The union argues that the land being used was technically District property, so it’s really a public project. (The land is under a 99-year lease to the developers.)
