Background:

The prevailing wage law replaces a local labor market with government mandated wage rates for all work done on a public works project such as roads and buildings.  The prevailing wage is consistently determined at rates just less than union wage rates in urban centers.  Large rural regions are combined with urban centers for determining prevailing wage rates.  Under current law, most public works construction projects built by any unit of government have been subject to prevailing wage.

Outcome: Budget changes require virtually all public works projects will now be subject to prevailing wage and expand prevailing wage law to include a privately owned construction project if it receives Tax Incremental Financing assistance or receives most any form of financial assistance. Budget changes also: require contractors to submit more reports to state government, monthly and sometimes weekly about all work done under the prevailing wage laws; enhance penalties on contractors failing to follow all prevailing wage law requirements; add more supply and installation contract work as subject to prevailing wage; eliminate costs for an investigation into accusation of prevailing wage violations previously assessed to the accuser; clarify that volunteer work is exempt from prevailing wage law.  More than any other budget issue, I heard your opposition to the prevailing wage changes that will hurt community development goals, hurt property taxpayers, and kill job creation efforts in rural regions with less wealth than urban areas.