PLAs severely limit bid competition on taxpayer funded projects. Numerous studies have found that this artificially limited competition ads between 12 and 20 percent to the cost of public construction projects. These avoidable and unnecessary costs mean one thing - higher taxes!

The added costs of PLAs place additional strain on public budgets, crowding out other important projects. This means you receive fewer public works. For example, the County might be able to build 4 new schools without a PLA, but only two schools with a PLA.

PLAs add delay-inducing complexity and bureaucracy to construction projects, further increasing the likelihood of cost overruns. PLAs exist only when politicians mandate them as payback for political support. They are not a normal part of the construction process and, as such, impede the ability of most contractors to efficiently and effectively deliver taxpayer-funded infrastructure.

PLAs put out-of-state union bosses in charge of who gets to work on Loudoun construction projects. 95% of Virginian construction workers have chosen not to join a union. PLAs allow unions to discriminate against Virginia workers in favor of out-of-state workers with seniority in the union.

PLAs send Loudoun tax dollars to out-of-state construction firms that have relationships with construction unions. What’s worse, local firms are excluded from participating on Loudoun cosntructpon projects that are funded by their own tax dollars.

PLAs exclude nearly all small, minority-, and woman-owned construction firms. This is why the National Black Chamber of Commerce has been an outspoken critic of mandatory PLAs.