HARRISBURG (April 2) – Prevailing Wage legislation could come up for a vote this week in the state House of Representatives, or, as it has in the past, fail to get considered due to insufficient House GOP support.
HB 1329 would set the bar higher for when the “prevailing” wage – the average wage and benefits of a particular region – is paid on a publicly-financed construction project.
Currently, the prevailing wage is paid on projects that cost at least $25,000. Some legislators seek to raise that threshold to $185,000.
House GOP spokesman Steve Miskin said the bill could come up for a vote on Tuesday or Wednesday. Several amendments to the bill are also lined up for debate.
Proponents of the bill say the prevailing wage has been inflated by collective bargaining and does not reflect actual regional prevailing wages, and therefore artificially drives up the cost of taxpayer-funded construction projects. The changes are opposed by labor and trade unions.
Changes to the Prevailing Wage Act are a prized goal of many of the state’s conservatives.
Frederick Anton III, a top conservative leader in Pennsylvania, specifically noted the prevailing wage law when he recently admonished the Corbett administration and the Republican-controlled Legislature for not moving enough conservative agenda items.
In February, House GOP lawmakers spent hours in caucus, trying to put together enough votes for the prevailing wage legislation, but the bill was never called up for a vote.
Some House Republicans said Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-Bucks, played a role in delaying a vote on a bill proposing changes to the state’s Prevailing Wage law in February.
Some also said then that the regional differences in the House GOP Caucus led to the erosion of Republican support for the prevailing wage changes. Those divisions rest between suburban Republicans, where trade and construction unions are prevalent, and rural Republicans.
“Can eastern conservatives and western libertarians unite behind any of the remaining GOP options? Having deep doubts!” Rep. Gordon Denlinger, R-Lancaster, tweeted the day following the vote collapse.
Rep. Stephen Bloom, R-Cumberland, a co-sponsor of the prevailing wage change, attributed the collapse of support to an urban versus rural component of the House Republican Caucus.
“I think it’s part of the diversity of Pennsylvania,” Bloom said in February. “There’s some resistance to even modest changes to the prevailing wage law” among some Republican members.
Bloom said recently he would like to have the bill brought up for a vote regardless, just to have a public record of who is or isn’t in favor of the bill.
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