A Massive Win For Building Trades Workers As Prevailing Wage Law Passes Legislature (NH)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

5-3-19
Posted by NH Labor News

The House of Representatives voted 213-140 yesterday to pass SB 271, which would require prevailing wages on state-funded public works projects.

“All workers employed by or on behalf of any contractor, subcontractor, or hiring agent engaged in the construction of public works for the state of New Hampshire or any agency, officer, board, commission, or authorized agent of the state shall be paid a wage of not less than the minimum prevailing hourly rate of wages and benefits for work of a similar character in the county in which the work is performed.”

This new law would ensure that workers are paid fairly for the work they are doing and mandates payroll requirements to ensure that workers are being paid properly. Along with ensuring proper payments to workers the bill provides protections for the state agencies to withhold payment for contractors who fail to meet the prevailing wage requirement and bars them from future contracts.

Representative Brian Sullivan (D-Grantham), Chair of the House Labor Committee, released the following statement:

“Reestablishing a prevailing wage law in New Hampshire will ensure that construction workers receive fair wages on jobs funded by New Hampshire tax dollars. Prevailing wage standards assure that state construction projects are awarded to contractors that produce efficient, high quality work, and help keep local tax dollars in the state, going to local workers and local companies. It is past time that New Hampshire joins its New England neighbors in enacting this common sense policy, which assures competitive wages are paid on taxpayer-funded projects.”

Senator Feltes (D-Concord), the prime sponsor of SB 271, released the following statement after the vote:

“Prevailing wage laws ensure that construction workers receive fair wages and help keep New Hampshire taxpayer dollars going to local workers and local companies. It’s great to see the Senate take the first step to make tax dollars work for New Hampshire working families by joining our New England neighbors to enact this common sense policy.”

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My Turn: The conservative case for a prevailing wage (NH)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By TROY MERNER
Published: 5/8/2019 12:10:20 AM

There’s an old saying that the best social welfare program is a “good-paying job with excellent benefits,” and I couldn’t possibly agree more. While most elected officials agree with this idea in principle, we often disagree on the best path forward. New Hampshire has some of the best-trained and hardest workers in the country, and it’s high time we treated them accordingly. This is why I’m asking my fellow Republicans to support Senate Bill 271 and finally establish a prevailing wage in New Hampshire.

Prevailing wage law states that contractors must offer competitive wages and benefits on taxpayer-funded projects. This accomplishes two things: First, it ensures that public projects enjoy a quality of workmanship that cut-rate contractors cannot provide, saving taxpayers millions of dollars over the long term. Second, it affords locally trained New Hampshire workers the ability to work close to home. Many of our best-trained workers are forced to seek employment in neighboring states where prevailing wage ensures that pay is higher, while local construction jobs go to out-of-state contractors offering a lower quality of service.

A recent study by economists at the Keystone Research Center, a nonpartisan economic policy organization, concluded that establishing a prevailing wage in New Hampshire would add up to 4,000 local jobs to our economy because it would diminish out-of-state contractors’ ability to undercut our local workforce. This law would also provide health coverage to approximately 2,500 construction workers – reducing the number of our hard-working men and women who rely on the government for assistance. The same study concluded that passing a prevailing wage would increase economic activity by $680 million in New Hampshire and raise up to $17 million in new state and local tax revenue.

Passing a prevailing wage also establishes an enforcement protocol to ensure that contractors don’t miscategorize workers or hire undocumented workers to artificially lower their bids. This malicious practice both undercuts our local workforce and provides a lower quality of service on taxpayer-funded projects.

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(Troy Merner, a Lancaster Republican, represents Coos District 7 in the N.H. House of Representatives.)

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