Davis-Bacon Act Law and Legal Definition. The Davis–Bacon Act is a United States federal law which was enacted in 1931. The act is named after its Republican sponsors, James J. Davis, a Senator from Pennsylvania and a former Secretary of Labor under three presidents, and Representative Robert L. Bacon of Long Island, New York. The Davis-Bacon act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover on March 3, 1931.