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Podcast: Cascade CounterPoint
Episode: Prevailing wages have a dark history and poor results
Description: While many people in the Portland region value efficient governments, prevailing wage laws are rarely questioned. Prevailing wage laws drain tax-payer funded resources by increasing the labor costs of public construction projects such as affordable housing. These laws were originally enacted to shut out minorities from construction jobs in the 1930s. Portland and Metro are currently using more than $900 million in tax dollars to build affordable housing projects. Both jurisdictions are subject to prevailing wage laws that significantly decrease their efficiency.
Portland and Metro’s housing bonds are already spending roughly $300 thousand per new unit, which is ne...