Economy

Why the Federal Government Should Let Cities Hire Local Workers

Federally funded infrastructure projects come with strict policies that don’t allow locals-first hiring. Here’s why cities should lead.
REUTERS/Sean Gardner

The ordinance New Orleans recently passed requiring city contractors to commit at least half of the total hours needed to complete a project to locally based workers still needs some fine-tuning before it takes effect. There are concerns about how effective the new policy will be at helping bring down the city’s sky-high black unemployment rate.

One of those concerns, as reported by Nola.com: