Anti-Prevailing Wage Bills Killed by Legislative Committees
Just as an Assembly committee had done last week, the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on Wednesday killed an effort by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) to gut California’s prevailing wage laws.
The two ABC-backed bills, SB 725 and 727, had the same aim as two Assembly bills that were defeated last week. They would have increased the prevailing wage cost threshold from $1,000 to $100,000, allowed local governments and special districts to exempt themselves from prevailing wage by ordinance or resolution, eliminated prevailing wage on specific public works projects, narrowed the definition of a public works project, weakened apprentice requirements, attacked collective bargaining agreements, and lowered the prevailing wage overall by abolishing the “modal” rate of prevailing wage determination.
