Ditch This Jim Crow-Era Mandate That Hurts Minorities Most

Congress passed a “prevailing wage” law in 1931 specifically intended to favor white workers and white-only labor unions over nonunionized and minority workers.

Jim Crow is long gone. But prevailing-wage laws, which restrict qualified businesses from competing for taxpayer-funded public-works projects unless they comply with a host of onerous requirements, are back with a vengeance.

More than half the states have adopted their own prevailing-wage measures affecting tens of millions, even though these laws have proven time and again to hurt workers, businesses and taxpayers — with the burdens falling disproportionately on minorities and small businesses.

It’s time to ditch these laws for good.

Read the rest of the op-ed at New York Post.

John Thorpe is a staff attorney at the Goldwater Institute.