Anthony Foxx Announces New Pilot Program to Facilitate Hiring in City Neighborhoods
As it is, federal contracting law prohibits the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration from allowing states and local governments to impose contract provisions that further social or economic goals, the DOT said in the March 3 announcement.
“Local workers often have the greatest stake in local road and transit projects, but federal rules make it hard for communities to ensure that their workers reap some of the benefits, and that’s just not right,” Foxx said.
“We want to create ladders of opportunities for them, as well as for low-income workers and veterans, to help put some of the transportation investments we make in the hands of those who would benefit most,” he said.
The pilot program will allow FHWA and FTA “to test and evaluate the merits of such provisions and whether the existing competitive bidding process can be improved,” DOT said.
Foxx made the announcement in a joint press conference call with the mayors of three cities: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Birmingham Mayor William Bell.
The pilot is to last a year and will be conducted under provisions in federal law that allow the two transportation agencies to pursue experiments that might find new and more effective means of building, maintaining and managing projects, the DOT said.
The department has published the proposal in the Federal Register and said it wants the public to review it and submit comments in the coming 30 days.
