Oregon Update: Two Significant Developments in the Project Labor Agreement and Community Work Agreement Saga

There have been two significant developments at the end of March and early April 2025 regarding PLAs and CWAs in Oregon.

We've previously addressed Oregon Gov. Kotek's Executive Order No. 24-31 requiring the use of Project Labor Agreements on certain state construction projects. On March 24, 2025, Marion County Circuit Judge Thomas M. Hart issued a preliminary injunction from the bench preventing state agencies from enforcing EO 24-31. Based upon our reading of the transcript of the hearing, Judge Hart reserved decision on whether or not EO 24-31 is an unconstitutional separation-of-powers violation, or whether it is unenforceable as a violation of the open and competitive bidding requirements in Oregon's Public Contracting Code, ORS 279A.005 et seq.

Separately, on April 10, 2025, the Oregon Supreme Court determined that the Oregon Department of Transportation ("ODOT") failed to follow the rulemaking requirements of Oregon's Administration Procedures Act in developing the CWA for use on ODOT projects. Oregon-Columbia Ch. of the Assoc. Gen. Contr. of Am. [("AGC")] v. Dept. of Transp., 373 Or 405, 407-08, (2025) (En Banc). As a result, the Court determined that the CWA is an "invalidly promulgated rule." Id. at 408. The Court rejected ODOT's argument that the CWA was not a "rule," finding that the "CWA is an ODOT statement that prescribes policies that generally apply to its community benefit program[1]" and "[t]hat makes it a 'rule' under the APA[.]" Id.

It will be interesting to see how the Court's decision in AGC will impact the pending litigation in Marion County Circuit Court relating to EO 24-31.

If you have questions relating to public contracting or PLAs, please contact our construction and government contracts group.