H.B. 135 is now law in Kentucky after passing the Senate in March by a 26 to 10 vote and the House of Representatives in February by a narrower 50 to 44 vote.

Introduced by Rep. Phillip Pratt (R), this legislation ensures state and local governments cannot require controversial project labor agreements on taxpayer-funded construction projects. Government-mandated PLAs typically force contractors to recognize unions as the representatives of their employees and hire most or all employees from the union hiring hall and union apprenticeship programs. Employers also must follow union work rules and pay into union benefit and multi-employer pension plans, in addition to any existing benefit plans, putting them at a significant competitive disadvantage.

The new law ensures the nearly 88 percent of Kentucky’s private construction workforce who have chosen not to join a labor union are able to work on projects in their own communities, funded by their own tax dollars.

Kentucky is the 25th state (and the 23rd since 2011) to pass a law ensuring fair and open competition on state and local publicly funded construction projects. This follows repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law and passage of Right to Work legislation in 2017.