Action Alert on Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Law

The Manufacturer & Business Association sent an action alert yesterday on Sen. Brubaker’s proposal to place a three-year moratorium on Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage requirement (SB 695). Click here for their link to send an email or written letter to Governor Rendell and your state legislators.

The Commonwealth Foundation recently held a Policies & Principles Luncheon with Sen. Brubaker and representatives from various interest groups on the state’s prevailing wage law and SB 695. I have also outlined the costs of Pennsylvania prevailing wage law here and here.

Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage law is outdated, uncompetitive, and racist. Furthermore, through a recent Right to Know Law request from the Department of Labor and Industry, in 2007, total estimated costs reported for prevailing wage project requests totaled over $59 billion. Assuming 10 percent would have been covered under the Federal Davis-Bacon Act, Pennsylvania’s prevailing wage law added nearly $9 billion to requested construction projects receiving state money in 2007.