New Study: Prevailing Wage Law Would Boost New Hampshire Jobs, the State Economy, and In-State Contractors

January 14, 2016
A new study released today by leading national researchers on the construction industry finds that a proposed New Hampshire prevailing wage law would boost the state economy by at least $300 million, create several thousand jobs, and increase state and local tax revenue by up to $17 million.

The report, published by the Keystone Research Center (KRC), an independent non-partisan economic policy group, was released in advance of hearings in Concord next week on the proposed prevailing wage law. New Hampshire is the only state in New England and the Northeast that does not have such a law.

The study uses a growing body of peer reviewed research, data from the Economic Census of Construction, and industry-standard IMPLAN software to analyze the impact of prevailing wage standards for skilled construction industry trades on the New Hampshire economy as a whole and on construction workers’ wages, benefits and reliance on taxpayer-funded public benefit programs.

(PDF of Press Release)

(PDF Copy of Full Study)

State Prevailing Wage Laws Save or Create 400,000 Jobs in America

FIRST OF ITS KIND NATIONAL STUDY EXAMINES ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND FISCAL IMPACTS OF STATE PREVAILING WAGE LAWS

Posted by Frank Manzo IV
February 9, 2016

CONTACT: Todd Stenhouse, (916) 397-1131 or toddstenhouse@gmail.com

Chicago, IL – As policy debates rage in states from Michigan and New Hampshire to New Mexico and West Virginia, researchers from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, Colorado State University-Pueblo, and Smart Cities Prevail have just completed the first ever national study on the economic, social, and project cost impacts of state prevailing wage laws.

Prevailing wage laws govern the wage rates paid to construction workers on government-funded public works projects.

The report, entitled “The Economic, Fiscal, and Social Impacts of State Prevailing Wage Laws: Choosing Between the High Road and the Low Road in the Construction Industry,” utilizes industry standard IMPLAN modeling software and industry comparisons between states with and without prevailing wage laws to assess the impact of these policies on a variety of economic and social factors: including job creation, wages, worksite productivity, rates of in-state contracting, impacts on taxpayers, reliance on government assistance programs, and effects on communities of color and veterans.

(Read More)

(Report Fact Sheet)

(Full Copy of Report)