States and local governments spend billions of dollars each year on essential public infrastructure and support millions of jobs through the construction, repair, and maintenance of roads, bridges, and schools. These investments must be delivered on time and on budget and provide the best value for taxpayers. Although cities and states that have long adopted fair contracting policies to meet these goals have generally been controlled by Democratic majorities, policymakers in communities where Republicans hold significant power are increasingly debating similar measures to help deliver on infrastructure investments and stabilize the contract workforce.
Specifically, bipartisan and Republican-led coalitions have begun adopting three core strategies for ensuring fair contracting: responsible bidder ordinances, prevailing wage requirements, and apprenticeship utilization standards. These models are being advanced in communities with Republican trifectas and where Republicans and Democrats split control of the government—including Nevada, Utah, and several local jurisdictions in Indiana—as well as in numerous communities where Republican leadership at the state level preempts local adoption of other workplace standards.
This article highlights these approaches and the Republican-leaning jurisdictions advancing them, making the case for why such models are attractive to lawmakers across the political spectrum.
How fair contracting policies benefit local communities
Fair contracting policies offer a pragmatic solution to common workforce challenges, particularly within the construction industry, where ongoing labor shortages are intensified by an aging construction workforce. Roughly 1 in 5 workers employed in the construction industry is now over the age of 55, and rising retirement rates are expected to significantly shrink the available workforce over the next decade. Moreover, the industry continues to face increasing demand, high turnover, and difficulty attracting young workers, resulting in slower project timelines and increased construction costs.
Policies that set baseline expectations for contractors can result in more stable and skilled workforces as well as better delivery on public projects:
Taken together, these policies form a mutually reinforcing system that keeps local contracting dollars working for local communities. Responsible bidder ordinances ensure more qualified local firms can compete for and win public contracts. Prevailing wage laws keep those contracts from eroding local wage standards by preventing firms from undercutting local market wages and benefits. And apprenticeship utilization requirements complete the system by ensuring public dollars actively build and stabilize local construction workforces.
Fair contracting policies are gaining traction in states and localities across the political spectrum as practical approaches to addressing real challenges for workers, contractors, and governments.
At their core, fair contracting policies are rooted in principles of accountability and the responsible use of public funds. They, therefore, are gaining traction in states and localities across the political spectrum as practical approaches to addressing real challenges for workers, contractors, and governments. While some states preempt local jurisdictions’ ability to raise contract worker standards, for localities without these barriers, fair contracting policies offer pathways to strengthen public works outcomes and workforce development. Even jurisdictions that have already adopted them can further expand their impact.
Responsible bidder ordinances strengthen accountability, workforce standards, and project outcomes
Responsible bidder ordinances (RBOs) are procurement policies that require rigorous evaluation of prospective bidders’ demonstrated capacity to deliver projects successfully. These ordinances can cover a range of criteria, including proof of business and worker insurance, proper licensing, and a record of satisfactory project performance. While many states and localities have adopted RBOs as general accountability tools, policymakers can increase their impact by incorporating strong workforce standards—such as compliance with federal, state, and local labor and wage laws, payroll reporting requirements, and participation in registered apprenticeship programs—to aid in the development of a more stable and skilled construction workforce.
In Indiana, dozens of local jurisdictions—including bipartisan-led LaPorte in 2021 and Republican majority Rensselaer in 2023—have implemented RBOs that do not conflict with state preemption limits. The ordinances require contractors to disclose prior labor law violations; verify compliance with licensing, insurance, and tax requirements; and submit certified payroll records once awarded a contract to help the jurisdiction detect payroll fraud and worker misclassification. Many communities, including the city of Valparaiso, also require participation in an active registered apprenticeship program in order to ensure winning bidders are making necessary investments into workforce training and safety.
Research on local RBO laws in Indiana reveals improved wages and reduced turnover on public construction projects, with no increase in project costs compared with projects completed with no RBO. The laws also help support better overall contract performance: Companies with workplace violations are more than five times as likely to receive low performance ratings based on factors such as cost and work quality, and RBOs encourage greater competition for taxpayer-funded projects, increasing the number of bids per project in Indiana and Illinois by roughly 8 percent between January 2018 and May 2019 and increasing the likelihood of local contractors winning bids.
Strong RBOs have also been adopted in local jurisdictions outside of Indiana where state legislatures have preempted other workplace actions:
- In 2021, Birmingham, Alabama, implemented an RBO within state preemption restrictions, while Louis County, Missouri, strengthened its responsible bidder standard to require applicant participation in registered apprenticeship programs and payment of prevailing wages.
- New Orleans adopted criteria that evaluates bidders based on factors ranging from performance history to adherence with relevant laws and regulations.
- In 2017, Douglas County, Wisconsin, adopted comparable standards after the state repealed prevailing wage coverage for local communities.
- In 2023, Toledo, Ohio, established responsible standards regarding compliance with labor and tax laws, apprenticeship participation, and demonstrated project experience.
Prevailing wage standards ensure fair pay, quality work, and stronger public investment outcomes
Prevailing wage laws require that workers on publicly funded construction projects be paid the wages and benefits earned by similarly employed workers in a given geographic area. By setting a wage floor tied to local market standards, these policies ensure that public spending supports fair compensation, prevents contractors from undercutting one another through race-to-the-bottom labor practices, and helps keep taxpayer dollars circulating within local economies.
Nevada has taken multiple steps over the past couple years to strengthen prevailing wage standards under bipartisan governance. While not all proposed expansions of the state’s prevailing wage standard have been adopted, the state enacted S.B. 443 in 2025 and S.B. 226 in 2023 to extend prevailing wage coverage to utility projects and alternative contract agreements, as well as A.B. 210—also in 2023—to require wage transparency and stronger enforcement of prevailing wage.
Similarly, in Utah, a bipartisan coalition advocated for legislation in 2025 to establish a statewide prevailing wage standard for construction workers. While the legislation ultimately failed to win support in the legislature, supporters argued that it would help address skilled labor shortages, improve project quality and outcomes, and ensure that public investments deliver long-term value. State Rep. Tyler Clancy (R), the bill sponsor, explained: “This bill is really about building it right the first time and making sure taxpayers are investing in quality work when it comes to our public infrastructure.”
Research finds that prevailing wage laws deliver benefits across workforce, fiscal, and economic outcomes. States with prevailing wage standards are found to have higher supplies of apprentices and apprenticeship graduation rates, translating directly into a more reliable supply of skilled workers and supporting better-quality construction work. Nationally, construction workers in prevailing wage states contribute 1.7 times more in federal income taxes than workers not in prevailing wage states and have lower rates of poverty. Because of these lower rates, these states see less use of public assistance among construction workers, helping decrease hidden costs to governments and providing benefits to taxpayers. More broadly, these standards are found to reduce the leakage of local tax dollars and increase the hiring of local contractors and workers, which boosts local economic activity and jobs.
Apprenticeship utilization requirements help to build a skilled construction workforce
Apprenticeship utilization requirements are policies that require or set goals to ensure that a specified share of work on public construction projects be performed by registered apprentices. These policies are often paired with expectations that contractors participate in registered apprenticeship programs, helping ensure a steady pipeline of trained workers and aligning public investment more directly to workforce outcomes in the construction sector. In other words, contractors who receive public works contracts are required to invest in their workers, which guarantees that the community or region will have adequate skilled crafts for its essential construction projects going forward.
Several states and jurisdictions with Republican or bipartisan leadership have recently strengthened or implemented these requirements. Nevada, for example, expanded its apprenticeship utilization requirements in 2025 through A.B. 43, requiring public bodies entering into certain types of contracts to ensure that 25 percent of work is performed by enrolled or graduated apprentices. Notably, this law was adopted through a bipartisan effort that had support from a Republican governor and a Democratic-majority legislature. At the local level, cities in states that have preempted other contracting workplace standards—such as Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2019 and Birmingham, Alabama, in 2025—have also adopted utilization ordinances that require or encourage the use of apprentices.
Apprenticeship programs are a proven workforce development tool that helps build a skilled and reliable pipeline of construction workers. Research finds that workers who complete registered apprenticeship programs are more productive, produce higher-quality work, and can achieve lifetime earnings comparable to those of workers with a bachelor’s degree. Businesses that utilize apprentices report improved worker pipelines and reduced turnover. These benefits are especially important as the construction industry faces ongoing labor shortages and a shrinking workforce driven by high retirement rates—at the same time as heightened demand for construction and infrastructure work.
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Conclusion
Fair contracting policies such as responsible bidder ordinances, prevailing wage standards, and apprenticeship utilization requirements are practical, bipartisan solutions that align workforce development goals with more effective use of taxpayer funds and, when adopted together, are especially effective. In this way, they help reduce waste in public investments while improving project reliability and long-term value for taxpayers. States and localities with Republican-led or divided governments should look to these examples as models for improving their communities’ workforce capacity and maximizing the impact of their public investment.