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and Industry Committee began a series of public hearings in State College, Aug. 22, to address proposed changes to the outdated Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Law, reports State Rep.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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