A controversial effort to tweak Pennsylvania’s prevailing-wage law has cleared a key hurdle.
The Democratic-controlled state House this week passed a bill containing the tweaks on a vote of 125 to 77, sending it to an uncertain future in the GOP-controlled Senate.
What are the tweaks: The legislation, House Bill 2153, would apply prevailing wages for the first time to offsite custom fabrication work, as well as HVAC duct cleaning.
The bill also would ban a practice known as split rates, under which workers are paid different rates at different times on the same project.
What’s the debate: Supporters argue the changes will ensure workers are paid appropriately on projects paid for using taxpayer dollars.
In a statement, State Rep. Jason Dawkins, a Philadelphia Democrat who sponsored the bill, called the lack of prevailing-wage coverage for offsite fabrication a “loophole.”
He noted that offsite fabrication is a growing trend in construction.
But critics argue the changes could prove burdensome and difficult to enforce. In addition, they could drive fabrication business to out-of-state companies, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry said in a memo opposing the bill.
The Department of Labor & Industry believes enforcement of the new provisions would require the addition of five investigators at an annual cost of about $515,000, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.
The analysis also notes that the expansion of prevailing-wage law could add costs to publicly funded projects, though the amount is uncertain.
The background: State law requires payment of prevailing wages on publicly funded projects with an estimated cost of at least $25,000.
The wages are typically higher than what workers might otherwise earn.
