Transportation Experts Say Measure Aims To Allow DOT To Avoid Federal Wage Requirements On Some Highway Projects
Thursday, December 6, 2018, 5:25am
By Rich Kremer
Legislation passed during the Legislature’s lame-duck session could change how Wisconsin pays for major highway projects. Transportation insiders say the tweaks are meant, by lawmakers, to be a way for the state to avoid federal wage requirements.
The first bill approved by lawmakers during this week’s extraordinary session makes changes to how the Wisconsin Department of Transportation funds highway megaprojects, like those in southeastern Wisconsin and other major state highway projects throughout the state, by requiring at least 70 percent of the project be funded with federal dollars.
Under current law, the DOT uses a combination of federal and state dollars, but for megaprojects and other major highway improvements there isn’t a set minimum for federal funds.
Former DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb said that change is significant because federal funds carry with them federal requirements that contractors be paid wages set by the U.S. Department of Labor.