Repeal of a single law, which reportedly adds an estimated $2.9 billion a year to construction costs in the United States, would lower consumer prices, federal taxes, and the price of new homes for thousands of residents in Utah, new economic study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claims. The Chamber’s chief economist, former Utahn Dr. Jack Carlson, identified the “little known law” as the DavidBacon Act, enacted in 1931 as an antidepression measure. He said legislation to repeal the act (supported by the U.S. Chamber and key industry organizations) is pending in both houses of Congress, One measure has the backing of more than 60 co-signers in the House of Representatives. The 1931 law requires builders on federally-funded projects such as highways, airports, hospitals, and military installations – to pay wages determined by union scales in many localities. “These wages, in turn, exert pressure for payment of higher wages in private construction, so that both federally-funded and private jobs have higher price tags,” said the Chamber’s report. In its economic forecasting study, the Chamber reported these likely effects in Utah if the law were repealed: Consumer prices would decline 0.1 to 0.4 percent; purchasing power would grow $25 to $134 per household; the cost of new homes would decline by $729 and federal taxes would be reduced between $18 and $97. Anywhere from 147 to 956 new jobs would open up. On a national basis, the study projects declines of 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent in consumer prices, and an average of $741 in the price of new homes and the creation of as many as 150,000 new jobs. Tax savings could amount to as much as $80 per U.S. household. Certainly the figures presented in the Chamber’s economic report are impressive. They raise enough questions to make taxpaying citizen wonder why the Davis-Bacon Act is allowed to remain on the books. We suggest that Congress lose no time in studying the report and all aspects of the problem.