Cass Ballenger: “I am sure you have heard by now about the Davis-Bacon fraud that was going on Oklahoma. After long investigations by the…”

“I am sure you have heard by now about the Davis-Bacon fraud that was going on Oklahoma. After long investigations by the Oklahoma Department of Labor, the FBI indicted and a Federal judge convicted a labor union official for falsely submitting wage information to inflate wage rates on Federal projects. Last week an Oklahoma Federal judge upheld a conviction and denied the motion for a new trial or acquittal on 14 felony charges. The union official currently awaits sentencing. The investigation by the Oklahoma Department of Labor uncovered just how easy it is to manipulate the system. The investigation uncovered inflated numbers of employees and inflated wage rates on projects that were never built. Unfortunately, this false wage information enormously skewed data that sets wages on Federal projects. This illustrates the poor quality of the Federal wage survey process and how antiquated this program really is. I would like to close by thanking the officials who were involved in the investigation and who persisted on following through to the end results, even if the results sadly confirm the fact that the Davis-Bacon invites fraud and abuse.”