Worst of the Week: Choosing Politics Over Virginia

February 24, 2012

The Washington Examiner reports, "The Dulles rail project is poised to lose millions in funding from Virginia as punishment for encouraging the use of union labor on the $6 billion project. The Republican-dominated General Assembly passed a bill Thursday prohibiting the state from giving money to any project that discriminates against contractors who don't want to use union labor. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling used his tie-breaking vote to pass the bill in the Senate."

Progressive Point: Conservatives in Richmond showed their true colors yesterday by choosing to put at jeopardy millions of dollars in funding--and the entire Dulles rail project--in order to continue their ideological crusade. Not only that, but Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and the other conservatives in the State Senate puts anti-union partisanship above a market-based tool that sets rules and expectations for management and workers, and is actually beneficial to Virginia and is the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars. PLAs neither require a unionized workforce nor do they require any worker to join a union. PLAs are good for local economies because they guarantee local workers are chosen for local projects, keeping construction dollars in our communities.

Lt. Gov. Bolling and the rest of the conservatives in the State Senate have clearly put politics above Virginia and are hurting the Commonwealth. Our representatives need to focus on fixing the economy, but Bill Bolling's tie-breaking vote against PLAs is a vote against it and the best interests of Virginia--and for that he is our Worst of the Week.

Get the Facts:

• Phase 1 of the Dulles Rail project utilized a PLA. The project is ahead of schedule, under budget, and has the best safety record of any construction project in Virginia. The new Springfield interchange (I-95 & I-495) is being constructed without a PLA. That project is "three times over budget, way behind schedule", and there have been 4 fatalities on the job. (Building & Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO)

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