10. The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931
Prior to the onset of the Great Depression, numerous states and municipalities in the United States passed laws which required government contractors to pay wages on projects on par with what prevailed in the location at the time. The laws protected local workers from being ignored through the use of migrant labor, paid using tax dollars. In the late 1920s, Congress came to realize that many projects funded with federal dollars did not result in employment for their constituents, with contractors turning to cheaper labor from other communities. Support grew for a bill introduced by Congressman Robert Bacon of New York, which forced contractors to pay the locally prevailing wage.
President Hoover supported the bill, which passed in 1931 and immediately proved unworkable, subject to kickbacks and outright fraud, and unenforceable. Hoover made changes to the enforcement provisions via executive orders, convinced that the provisions of the act supported his belief in the High Wage Policy and doctrine. He later vetoed amendments passed by Congress which in his view weakened the bill. Both labor unions and contractors opposed the bill, for differing reasons, and like other issues tied to maintaining high wages, it did little to stimulate either jobs or spending. Migrant workers continued to receive much lower wages, taking jobs from local workers and earning their enmity.