It’s time for local policymakers to cement the Biden administration’s workforce gains
Worker on California High Speed Rail's Hanford Viaduct on Jan. 29, 2024. At nearly 6,330 feet, the Hanford Viaduct is the largest high-speed rail structure in the Central Valley. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Connecting state and local government leaders
COMMENTARY | By adopting strong job quality standards for government spending, state and local policymakers can improve residents’ quality of life and support a strong, stable workforce for generations to come.
Three years into the Biden administration, communities ranging from Jacksonville, Florida, to the state of Maryland are helping a new generation of Americans access middle-class careers in construction and manufacturing. This work has only been made possible thanks to the administration’s historic federal investments to strengthen the nation’s physical, digital and clean energy infrastructure and to create good jobs while doing so. Now it’s time for cities and states to extend the impact of these investments to their own publicly supported jobs by strengthening quality standards.
At the heart of the Biden administration’s economic strategy lies a commitment to high-quality jobs and workplace equity, with standards and incentives baked into competitive grants and spending programs. While the federal government has long attached job standards related to wages, benefits and protections to some types of spending, the Biden administration’s policies go further by raising baseline standards higher, attaching them to more types of spending, and rewarding funding applicants that commit to going above minimum standards to create stable, well-paying jobs for workers from all walks of life. Communities enjoy a competitive advantage in winning more federal funds when they adopt project labor agreements, expand equitable access to good jobs through apprenticeships, and partner with local organizations and unions to ensure monitoring and enforcement of higher job standards.
The federal government is still refining its review and monitoring processes to make sure job quality standards are upheld for communities committing to programs using federal funding. At the same time, communities with few job quality standards in place for their own spending are gaining experience with these practices as they compete to win federal funds.
For example, in order to compete for a $23.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help develop zero-emissions electric port infrastructure, the Jacksonville Port Authority committed to making sure all on-site workers can organize and join unions “without interference.” The port authority also committed to signing a project labor agreement, expanding internship and apprenticeship opportunities and creating a diversity, equity and inclusion plan to help expand access to opportunities.
In addition to improving standards for federally supported jobs, state and local jurisdictions are also enacting policies to support workforce stability and improve access to high wage jobs funded with their own spending. Last fall, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed an order to encourage the growth of apprenticeship training programs and expand the use of project labor agreements on large infrastructure projects, citing the measures’ ability to support “timely and efficient” completion of project by maintaining a skilled workforce. Similarly, lawmakers in Michigan and the Arizona cities of Phoenix and Tucson recently adopted prevailing wage laws that ensure construction workers on publicly supported projects are paid market wages and benefits. Meanwhile, policymakers in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Rochester, Minnesota, are initiating partnerships with employers and worker representatives to increase registered apprenticeships and support the hiring of women, workers of color, young workers and low-income residents in the construction and manufacturing sectors.
To this end, the Center for American Progress published a playbook to inform policymakers and advocates about job quality standards for government-supported work. Research suggests that these standards produce a multitude of benefits—from raising the earnings of working families, to closing racial and gender pay gaps, to boosting worker productivity and supporting on-time, on-budget project completion. As many existing workers in these target industries near retirement, these quality standards will help employers successfully recruit, train and retain the next generation of skilled workers. By adopting strong job quality standards for government spending, state and local policymakers can improve residents’ quality of life and support a strong, stable workforce for generations to come.
Karla Walter is a senior fellow for inclusive economy at the Center for American Progress.
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