HB4005 HFA Miley, Caputo, Pushkin, Ferro, Sponaugle, Fluharty, Guthrie, Perdue, Morgan & Bates 1-25

            Delegates Miley & et al, move to amend the bill on page 1, line 1, following the enacting clause, by striking out the remainder of the bill, and inserting in lieu thereof, the following:

            That the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted by adding thereto two new sections, designated §21-5A-1a and §21-5a-1b, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 5A. WAGES FOR CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS.

§21-5A-1a. Repeal of prevailing wage in West Virginia for period of years.

Upon the effective date of the section enacted during the 2016 Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature, the provisions of this article are repealed, and deemed null and void, until July 1, 2021, and then shall resume in full force and effect if no further legislative action is taken.  This five year repeal of the terms of this article will allow for state construction activities, wages and other economic conditions impacted by the repeal the prevailing wage established in this article to take effect, and sufficient time for studies as required by section 1b of this article to be completed, and further, to allow the 2021 West Virginia Legislature to make a determination to whether this article shall be repealed permanently or allowed to return to full force and effect. 

§21-5A-1b.  Study of impact of repeal of prevailing wage in West Virginia.

(a) The West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research and the Center for Business and Economic Research at Marshall University in furtherance of section four, article three, chapter eighteen-b of this code, shall study the economic impacts of the repeal of the prevailing wage standards for construction of public improvements in West Virginia.  The study shall be completed by July 31^st, 2020, and provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the repeal of prevailing wages, that includes at a minimum the following: the trend of wages paid to West Virginia workers employed by government contract in the state construction industry by region, before and after the repeal; the detailed costs of state construction projects that were subject to prevailing wage prior to and after repeal; the impact to overall employment of state construction industry prior to and after repeal; whether the repeal has reduced state resident workers versus non-resident workers in the state construction industry;  the quality of construction practices, including cost overruns, contract amendments and timeliness of contract performance in state construction projects;  the effect of reduced health insurance premium contributions on state Medicaid liability; and any other trends in the state construction industry that have occurred and have been identified by the researchers that have resulted by repeal of prevailing wage.

(b) The West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research and the Center for Business and Economic Research at Marshall University shall submit all their studies to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance and each member of the Legislature no later than July 31, 2020.