House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020 Regular Session

Posted:	January 16, 2019 02:18 PM
From:	Representative Cris Dush
To:	All House members
Subject:	Prevailing Wage: Exemption on Historic Projects

In the near future, I will be re-introducing Rep. Milne’s former HB 2161. This legislation exempts those projects owned or held by historic organizations or land conservancies from the Prevailing Wage Act. The Prevailing Wage Act of course establishes “prevailing” minimum wage rates that must be paid on certain public projects. The rates that must be met are not necessarily reflective of wage levels that would be paid on projects in a given municipality if the free enterprise system were permitted to flourish. Studies in this and other states consistently have indicated that requirements of state prevailing wage laws artificially inflate costs of public construction projects by a factor of 10%-30%. Historic preservation projects, or projects undertaken by land conservancies, should not be subject to the expense and bureaucracy of this law. Budgets of such organizations generally are challenged. As a legislative body, we should ensure that such groups, merely trying to perform good works for their communities, can leverage tight budgets for as much gain as possible. This legislation, therefore, is in the best interests of promoting the public good. Previously introduced as HB2161, co-sponsors included: MILNE, RYAN, MACKENZIE, MILLARD, BLOOM, WARD, SAYLOR, GROVE, ZIMMERMAN, LAWRENCE, PHILLIPS-HILL, MENTZER, WHEELAND AND COX,
View Attachment

Introduced as HB761