New Jersey lawmakers are advancing A-5967/S-4864, legislation that would dramatically expand Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) to nearly all local public construction projects, including small, routine jobs like school repairs and municipal renovations. This directly contradicts the stated purpose of the original 2002 PLA statute requiring their use on large-scale public construction projects. The law was put in place purportedly to streamline and better manage complex and expensive jobs and help New Jersey construction workers to access them. The real impacts of these policies are reduced competition, increased costs, and limited access by the diverse small-business community to the construction projects that build New Jersey.

New Jersey’s own 2024 Disparity Study shows how significant the opportunity gaps already are. The findings showed Black-owned construction firms make up 9% of the market but receive just 0.014% of public contract dollars, while Hispanic-owned firms represent 11.6% of the market and receive only 1.5%. Compounding this, 98% of minority-owned contractors are non-union, meaning PLA expansion would exclude them from even more public work. Instead of closing these disparities, A-5967/S-4864 would deepen them by funneling taxpayer-funded projects to a narrow slice of the industry and locking out the emerging and diverse businesses New Jersey says it wants to support.

Your voice is urgently needed. Contact your Assemblymember today and urge them to vote NO on A-5967/S-4864. Tell them that expanding public-work opportunities, as opposed to limiting them through political cronyism, is the path to stronger competition, better value for taxpayers, and a fairer, more inclusive construction industry.