When the federal government awards construction contracts to private firms, it generally gives preference to builders with unionized workforces -- a move intended to direct tax dollars to companies where employees are guaranteed basic wages and working conditions. But if the construction industry has its way, nonunion contractors will soon receive a bigger share of the federal budget. During the last election, builders laid a solid financial foundation for George W. Bush, banking on Republicans to open up more public contracts to nonunion companies.

Two of the industry's most generous political action committees were Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and Associated General Contractors (AGC). Between them, the two trade associations handed out more than $2 million -- all but 4 percent of it to the GOP. The money helped the Republicans maintain control of Congress: AGC boasts that 94 percent of its candidates won in the House, and 75 percent in the Senate. "Overall, we're pleased," says Jeff Shoaf, the AGC's director of congressional relations.

One of the highest priorities for the industry, according to ABC, is passage of the Open Competition Act, a bill that would eliminate the preference for union contractors. "Over 80 percent of workers in our industry are not unionized," says ABC spokesman Scott Brown. "We're pushing for each of those firms to have the opportunity to bid on each and every project in the country."

But Bush didn't bother to wait for Congress to act. In February, he signed an executive order revoking the labor rule, meaning that big builders no longer have to pay union wages to get government jobs. Clark Enterprises, a general contractor which relies on public projects for much of its $1.5 billion in annual revenues, ranked eighth in the industry for campaign contributions, thanks to hefty donations by its CEO, A. James Clark (No. 113, $317,000). Government contracts make up a considerable part of Clark's business, from airports and highways to correctional institutions and government-owned monuments.

Like manufacturers and automakers, builders also oppose new federal workplace standards designed to protect employees from repetitive-motion injuries, and support Bush's call to repeal the estate tax, which takes a share of inheritances worth more than $635,000. In addition, they want to limit corporate responsibility for injuries to workers, limiting jury awards and forcing claimants to pay court costs for companies.

"I believe in tort reform," says Dwight Schar (No. 169, $271,000), CEO of home builder NVR, Inc. Schar says he backed George W. Bush because the GOP standard bearer shares his belief that "less government is more." His support for Republicans was nearly matched by fellow home builder Bob Perry (No. 207, $252,000), CEO of Bob Perry Homes, who also favors what he calls "lawsuit reform."

The campaign cash from builders has not gone unnoticed. With Bush and the GOP vowing to give builders almost everything they want, contractors have every reason to look forward to the next four years. "We're hopeful," says Shoaf of the AGC, "that Bush and Congress will be responsive to the needs of our industry."