Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Protects Employee's Wages; Signs Fairness in Public Construction Act
JEFFERSON CITY– Gov. Matt Blunt today held a ceremonial bill signing for Senate Bill 339 which creates the Fairness in Public Construction Act to help safeguard taxpayer dollars and protect employee wages.
"I applaud Senator Mayer and the other Senate and House members for their work to pass the Fairness in Public Construction Act," Blunt said. "Missourians can be pleased with the compromise legislation that will help ensure Missouri taxpayer dollars are used wisely on public construction projects. The legislation also assists Missouri workers by increasing the penalty for an employer that does not pay the prevailing wage rate to its employees."
Senate Bill 339, sponsored by Sen. Rob Mayer, requires that a public body may not require or prohibit bidders to engage in a relationship with a labor organization when a project is funded by greater than fifty percent by state funds, and public bodies who seek to use union-only project labor agreements must comply with a public hearing and appeals process.
The legislation also addresses concerns with the use of wage subsidies, often called job targeting funds. Targeted funds refer to a portion of a worker's wage that is deducted and then given back to the employing contractor. The funds may be used to subsidize bids for future construction projects in the form of a targeted job fund or may be collected as a payment to the contractor to reduce labor cost. The bill requires that any such wage subsidy must not lower an employee's wages below the prevailing wage for that particular occupational title.
The legislation also increases the penalty for an employer found not in compliance with the prevailing wage from $10 per day per employee to $100 per day per employee.
The legislation will become effective on Aug. 28, 2007.