Ohio Senate Passes Proposed Biennial Budget With Changes to Prevailing Wage Procedures
On Wednesday, June 8, the Ohio Senate passed its version of the $55.7 billion, two-year state budget plan. The Senate significantly revised the portions of the bill dealing with prevailing wages on public projects.
On Wednesday, June 8, the Ohio Senate passed its version of the $55.7 billion, two-year state budget plan. The Senate significantly revised the portions of the bill dealing with prevailing wages on public projects.
While the proposed House budget would not require prevailing wages on new construction projects less than $3.5 million, the proposed Senate budget would initially place that threshold at $125,000 and ultimately raise it up to $250,000 by 2013. The current prevailing wage threshold is $80,000.
Under the Senate budget, K-12 school districts would be prohibited from instituting prevailing wage requirements on public improvements. On the other hand, higher education facilities and the Ohio Turnpike would still be required to pay prevailing wages. Port Authorities would have the option of whether or not to pay prevailing wages.
The Senate budget also adopts several provisions intended to reduce “nuisance” lawsuits related to prevailing wage violations and provide “safe harbor” for contractors who attempt to abide by the law. Some of these provisions include: (1) requiring sufficient specific evidence of a violation from interested parties, (2) not issuing a violation if it involves less than $1,000/employee and the contractor makes full restitution, and (3) eliminating penalties for contractors and subcontractors who made a good faith effort to comply with the prevailing wage requirements.
From here, the bill will go to conference committee, where lawmakers will attempt to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill so that a final bill can be passed before the current budget plan expires on June 30.
You Asked: "How will changing the enforcement of ORC 4115 effect existing cases?"
Probably not at all. Generally, a change in a statute does not change the legal consequences of past conduct. The proposed Senate bill does not contain any language that would make the statutory changes to O.R.C. § 4115 retroactive to existing cases. Feel free to call with any questions.
Comments (2)
Posted by Amanda Earl on July 1, 2011, 9:27 am:
The new threshold contract amount for renovation work that will trigger prevailing wage requirements for most public projects will increase to $38,000 on the effective date of the bill, which is 90 days after it is signed. It would then increase to $60,000 on that same date in 2012 and finally to $75,000 on that date in 2013. However, the threshold contract amount for renovations related to roads, sewers, ditches, and other related works will remain the same at $23,447.
The Ohio Legislative Services Commission (http://www.lsc.state.oh.us) publishes some information about bills, including a particularly handy summary comparison of the versions of HB 153 passed by the House, the Senate, and ultimately as reported by Conference Committee (which is the version currently awaiting the Governor’s signature). That report is located at http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/fiscal/comparedoc129/asreportedbycc/comparedoc-hb153-cc.pdf (see page 112 for the comparison of the prevailing wage law modifications). You can also find information about the bill, including the text of the bill, at the Ohio State Legislature’s website, www.legislature.state.oh.us by searching for House Bill 153. The new prevailing wage provisions are located in Section 4115.03.
Post a comment:
Ask the Blogger
Do you have a topic that you would like discussed in a future blog article? Please let us know. If you have a confidential question regarding a blog article, please feel free to contact the article's author directly, or let us know if you would like for someone to contact you directly.
Attorney Spotlight
C. Michael Shull, III focuses his practice on construction law and litigation. Michael's client representations range from casinos and ENR Top 400 contractors to design firms and subcontractors.
Posted by Davis on June 30, 2011, 1:14 pm:
The threshold is currently $23,447;
When would any changes be effective?
could you provide a link to the legislation where any revisions to renovation would be detailed?