30 Million Dollars Found Money

30 Million Dollars Found Money

30 Million Dollars Found Money if Pennsylvania changes the law.

The Springfield School (Pa) District is pushing for a new $150 million high school that would add about $400 to the already crushing  and ever-increasing school property tax for the average homeowner.

Leaving aside the dubious necessity of the building, that cost could be cut by $30 million almost literally overnight simply by putting some ink on paper — or erasing some off.

Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage law adds 20 percent to cost of all public construction projects for absolutely no reason other than to enrich those whose wealth comes from playing politics and it is these who are the true “1% ers”.

So why not scrap a law that impoverishes 99 percent of us? Because 99 percent of us don’t like to play politics. We better learn. Springfield residents contact your state representative Bill Adolph (R-165), who has quite a bit of say in what goes on in Harrisburg, and let him know you can’t hurt anymore. Let him know your grandparents can’t hurt anymore. Let him know your children can’t hurt anymore.

30 Million Dollars Found Money

 

Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Bill Tabled

Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Bill Tabled — House Bill 1538, the bill that would allow counties, municipal governments and school districts
to opt out of Pennsylvania’s onerous prevailing wage requirements, was tabled, yesterday, Oct. 1. Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Bill Tabled

A spokeswoman for State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-12), one of the more responsible political figures in Harrisburg, says the bill is not dead however.

The prevailing wage law, which requires labor cost to be be paid at a
rate set by the state for most public construction projects,  adds 20 percent to the cost of these projects according to Commonwealth Foundation.

Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Bill Tabled by House

Bill Kills Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage


Bill kills Pennsylvania prevailing wage, at least for local projects

A bill allowing local governments to opt out of Pennsylvania’s onerous prevailing wage requirements has cleared the State House’s Committee of Labor and Industry and is now on the full floor reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129)

House Bill 1538,  . . . would allow counties, municipal governments and school districts to offer competitive wages – instead of inflated payments based on urban wage rates – to workers on certain projects,” said Cox.

The prevailing wage law, which requires labor cost to be be paid at a rate set by the state for most public construction projects,  adds 20 percent to the cost of these projects according to Commonwealth Foundation.

The union bosses are not happy with this potential blow to their luxurious lifestyles and are commanding the sheep in their pens to action as they fear the bill and its sisters HB 665 and HB 796 will be put to vote next week.

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Prevailing Wage Reform Hearings Continue

Prevailing Wage Reform Hearings Continue — The Pennsylvania House Labor and Industry Committee met in Johnstown last week to conduct the third in a series of hearings to discuss updates to Pennsylvania’s outdated Prevailing Wage Act, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129)

The law with its origins in racism cost Pennsylvania taxpayers $1 billion per year according to Commonwealth Foundation. Get rid of this and we can stop talking about 20 cents per gallon gas tax hikes.

Testifiers at last week’s hearings ncluded township managers, supervisors, a county commissioner, a city manager and union officials. Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Act requires municipalities and school districts to pay the “prevailing minimum wage” to those individuals working on public construction projects without specifying how the wage is determined, often resulting in inflated public project costs for municipalities. The act has not been updated since 1963.

An additional hearing on the issue is scheduled for Lycoming County on Sept. 26.

Common Core Dead, Pennsylvania Wise?

With State Rep. Bill Adolph (second from right) are Delaware County Patriots Bill Lawrence, Regina Scheerer and Maria Heider.

Common Core Dead Pennsylvania Wise?
State Rep. Bill Adolph (R-165) told a contingent from the Delaware County Patriots , this morning, Aug. 28, that Common Core is likely dead in Pennsylvania.

He said that a draft of Pennsylvania academic standards being considered by the State Board of Education will specifically include the wording “There will be no required reading lists and curriculum will remain strictly a local decision by our school boards.”
He noted the name of the standards will be changed to PA Core Standards.

He distributed a memo from State House Education Committee Chairman Paul Clymer (R-145) that in the standards “there will be no national tests or assessments, except if one is deemed necessary for special education students and then only in consultation with parents, teachers and other interested parties.”

He said the action was prompted by House Resolution 38 which passed unanimously.

Adolph, echoing earlier remarks by state Sen. Ted Erickson (R-26) said liquor-sale privatization will likely occur albeit the likely result will not be as strong as he had hoped.

He said he expects the legislature to vote next June to change the state’s pension system to a 401K-type defined contribution one from its present defined benefit one.

He said he expects, unfortunately, to see a transportation bill pass that will feature either gas tax increases or more roads tolled. He said the state roads and bridges are in that bad of shape.

Adolph said he had some confidence in the passage of reform to the state’s prevailing wage law — namely raising the exemption level of work from $25,000 where it has been since the law was passed in 1961 to $185,000 which is today’s equivalent taking into account inflation.
It’s a relatively minor reform but it’s progress.

He said Medicaid expansion will not happen unless Gov. Corbett can negotiate a lesser cost-per-recipient with the Obama Administration. As of now, Pennsylvania pays about $7,500 per recipient which is one of the highest in the nation. He said the state can’t afford to accept the expansion at that rate. He said hospital administrators have been lobbying hard for the governor to accept it.

He said he supported paycheck protection legislation that would end union dues be involuntarily deducted from workers paychecks, and that he supported bills banning teacher strikes.

Adolph said legislation will be presented calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who has refused to defend the Pennsylvania’s law restricting marriage to members of the opposite sex. He said the action has her worried. He pointed out that her refusal to enforce a law with which she disagreed is subverting the rule of law.

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Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Law Faces House Hearing

The Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Law is estimated to have added 20 percent to the cost of the recent work at Garnet Valley High School

The state House Labor and Industry Committee began a series of public hearings in State College, Aug. 22, to address proposed changes to the outdated Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Law, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

The Prevailing Wage Law requires municipalities and school districts to pay the “prevailing minimum wage” to those individuals working on public construction projects. Current law does not clearly spell out how the wage is to be determined, and often high, urban-area union wage rates are used as the basis for calculating the prevailing wage for a given project.

This initial hearing featured testimony from local government officials and union representatives and specifically addressed two prevailing wage reform bills. House Bill 796 would increase the prevailing wage threshold from $25,000 to $100,000 for public projects, and House Bill 665 would make it clear that the law would not apply to road repair projects.

Additional hearings on prevailing wage reforms will take place around the state over the next month, Cox said.

 

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Prevailing Wage Bills Up For Vote (2013)

The Pennsylvania House Republicans have tweeted that that two prevailing wage bills are up for vote today, June 29.

The House GOP has an excellent explanation as to what prevailing wage is and how it puts a tremendous the tax burden on the average resident here.

Good for the House GOP.

Local Pubs Help Stop Pro-Environmental Law

Local Pubs Help Stop Pro-Environmental Law — An attempt to de-fang the anti-environmental Davis-Bacon Act was defeated, June 5, after 36 Republicans joined all Democrats to vote down an amendment to the Military Construction/Veterans Affairs appropriators bill to bar the use of its funds to enforce the Davis-Bacon  prevailing wage requirements.

The Davis Bacon Act is a 1931  federal law that mandates  paying the local prevailing wages on public works projects over $2,000.

The law inflates the costs of such products by an estimated 15 percent, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

This means there is less money to repair bridges, fix roadways and resolve polluting traffic snarls that waste gas and clog our atmosphere.

Just consider that the historic Rose Tree Tavern in Upper Providence was moved back from the intersection of Route 252 and Rose Tree Road in 2004. When is PennDOT going to put in the desperately needed turn lanes? Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to wait until 2017 for an interchange between I-95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike?

In fact, with less money needed for construction projects maybe we could get rid of the turnpike tolls ending the smog producing toll lanes.

Davis-Bacon is a significant part of the reason for our declining infrastructure.

Here are, courtesy of Bob Guzzardi, the Pennsylvania Republicans that voted against the amendment: Jim Gerlach (PA-6), Pat Meehan (PA-7), Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8), Bill Shuster (PA-9), Lou Barletta (PA-11) and Tim Murphy, (PA-18).

Guzzardi also notes the last year’s vice presidential GOP nominee Paul Ryan of Wisconsin also opposed the amendment.

And this is why things don’t get better.

Local Pubs Help Stop Pro-Environmental Law

Bills Modernize Prevailing Wage In Pa.

Bills Modernize Prevailing Wage In Pa. — The House Labor and Industry Committee sent to the full body last  week two bills aimed at modernizing the state’s prevailing wage law, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129), who is a member of the Committee.

The prevailing wage applies to any public works project estimated to cost more than $25,000, which includes any construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration, or repair paid for in whole or in part out of the funds of a public body. That amount has not been altered for more than 50 years.

House Bill 796 would raise the threshold to $100,000. If the current $25,000 threshold were to be adjusted for inflation, it would equal just under $188,000.

House Bill 665 would expand the types of road maintenance projects that would be exempt from Prevailing Wage Act requirements to enable municipalities to stretch their road repair budgets and allow them to maintain more roads.

 

Bills Modernize Prevailing Wage In Pa.