A pair of Republican legislators hope the state's dire financial situation will provide leverage to temporarily suspend the state's prevailing wage law.
Rep. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud, and Sen. Chris Gerlach, R-Apple Valley, planned to hold a press conference this morning on their bill that would call "time out" on prevailing wage mandates. They say it would help balance the state budget by reining in construction costs.
Minnesota's prevailing wage law, on the books since 1973, requires that employees working on state-funded construction projects be paid wage rates comparable to wages paid for similar work in the area where the project is located.
Unions strongly support the prevailing wage law, while businesses just as fiercely oppose it.
The Minnesota Associated Builders and Contractors, which backs the "time out" bill, contends that the state could save tens of millions of dollars in construction costs if it were suspended. The organization points to a 2005 Minnesota survey, which found that the law increases state construction project costs by as much as 10 percent.
