This week, a compromise was reached in the Senate on the prevailing wage repeal bill I have been fighting and updating you on throughout the legislative session. The prevailing wage is used to pay all publicly financed construction jobs. Instead of an outright repeal, the compromise would change how the wage is calculated.
The version of Senate Bill 361 that passed transfers the authority of calculating the prevailing wage from the state Division of Labor to WorkForce West Virginia, which would coordinate with researchers at the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, at West Virginia University, and the Center for Business and Economic Research, at Marshall University, to determine accurate wage rates for the construction trades. The compromise also sets a threshold of $500,000 before contractors on public works projects would be required to pay prevailing wage.
Let me be clear. I voted against this compromise because I strongly believe the prevailing wage should be kept in its current form. While I am glad that we will have professionals at Marshall and WVU calculating the wage as opposed to some entity from outside of the state, it troubles me that we have just passed a bill that will make us beholden to those calculations.
We are changing these wages without knowing what the end result will be. That is reckless government. Good government would be to collect this data from these universities and then decide if we could live with those wages. The West Virginia Senate has historically been the most deliberate and thoughtful lawmaking body in this state. It pains me to see us forcing legislation through without knowing precisely how it will effect the working men and women that have built this state.
I'm also extremely concerned about the $500,000 threshold in this compromise and I am hopeful it will be lowered in the House of Delegates if a final bill completes legislative action. Many roofers, heating, ventilation and air conditioning professionals live off projects in the $100,000-$200,000 dollar range. This bill effectively kills prevailing wage for that segment of the workforce.
I believe when looking to solve an economic problem, the answer is never to take money out of the pockets of working people. As I have stated, the bill is still very flawed, but I must admit it is better than what we were facing a week ago. This compromise at least allows us to fight another day.
The fight now moves to the House of Delegates and I am calling on all West Virginians to come to the State Capitol on President's Day, Monday, Feb. 16 for "Show up, Stand up Day" to support West Virginia's working men and women and building. You have already made a difference in helping to craft this compromise but I remain hopeful that together, we can reject this bill or at the very least, improve it before the close of the 2015 legislative session.
If you would like to follow the daily action of the Legislature, visit the 82nd Legislature on the web at www.legis.state.wv.us
I hear your voice and I encourage all of you, regardless of party or affiliation, to contact me with any concerns you have regarding issues facing our district or our state. You can write to me at: Jeffrey V. Kessler, State Senate, Room 257M, Bldg. 1, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E. Charleston, WV 25305.
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