Building America: The Merit Shop Scorecard reviews and ranks state-specific information that is significant to the construction industry. The scorecard is a tool to identify states that are embracing the merit shop philosophy via legislation, policies, priorities and valuable programs, as well as highlight states where proactive and strategic improvements need to be executed to create an environment conducive to the industry’s needs. Rankings have been assigned primarily based on the core issues concerning merit shop construction, including state policies on Right to Work, prevailing wage and government-mandated project labor agreements.
Additional consideration has been given to a number of other factors that impact the industry, including state authorization or prohibition of public-private partnerships, availability of grants and incentives for employers that value training, and inclusion of career and technical education credits in high school requirements, among others. Other valuable and construction-relevant data has been provided separately on each state’s page, including information related to prompt pay requirements, safety figures, and a graph tracking the state-level unemployment rate in construction from month-to-month.