The co-authors of a bill repealing the state’s prevailing wage laws said at a recent hearing the requirements artificially increase the costs of construction projects.
But Democrats and union members slammed the bill as an attack on workers that would drive down wages. State Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Kenosha) said it would exacerbate income inequality in the state.
“Your bill makes it worse, driving people out of the middle class by cutting wages,” Wirch told the bill’s GOP co-authors, Sen. Leah Vukmir and Rep. Rob Hutton.
But Vukmir and Hutton said prevailing wage laws, which set minimum salaries for construction projects, make those projects more expensive and shut out many non-union firms from bidding on them.
Repealing the requirements, Vukmir said, would lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in savings over the years.
“Government shouldn’t be paying for inflated wages on the backs of all taxpayers,” Vukmir told the Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform.
Republicans last session repealed prevailing wages on local government projects, though the partial repeal didn’t apply to state construction projects.
Gov. Scott Walker proposed a full repeal in his budget, but the Joint Finance Committee removed it as a non-fiscal policy item. Walker told reporters that he backs a repeal, whether it happens in the budget or in a separate bill.
“As long as it happens, I think that’s one more tool to make sure the taxpayers get a better bang for their buck,” Walker said.
Several union members spoke in opposition to the bill, saying it would lead to lower wages and layoffs as local companies find it harder to compete with out-of-state firms that underbid them.
“That money will not stay here, will not be earned by local people,” said Dan Bukiewicz, the president of the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council.
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