A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging Executive Order 69, signed by Gov. Terry Branstad, according to a press release from the Governor’s Office.

The order — which bans the use of project labor agreements for publicly funded construction projects — was under scrutiny by trade unions, according to the release.

Judge John Jarvey of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa dismissed all claims.

“Dick Sapp, Frank Harty, and Ryan Koopmans of the Nyemaster law firm worked tirelessly to get the case dismissed at the earliest point in time before going to trial, saving the state of Iowa tens of thousands of dollars in litigation costs that the state would have incurred due to the lawsuit brought by the unions,” said Jeff Boeyink, Gov. Branstad’s chief of staff.

Jarvey ruled that because the state is the proprietor of its construction projects, it can decide whether to pay union wages or operate under their conditions, the release said.

— by Hayley Bruce