INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana lawmakers are debating the proposed repeal of an 80-year-old state law that serves as a way to set wages for public construction projects.
The proposal to end the state's common construction wage is expected to receive a vote in the Indiana House this week, and if the measure makes it through the Republican-controlled General Assembly, Gov. Mike Pence has said he'll sign it into law.
Supporters of the repeal said the free market should dictate wages paid for a project, and ending the law will help cash-strapped local governments and schools. Opponents say ending the ability for local boards to set wages for construction work will erode Hoosier workers' wages.
Jack McNeely, president of the Southwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council, said the law has worked to protect "good, local community workers."
"It insures people have employment and local people work and local people spend money in the community. Without this law in place, you are going to have contractors from everywhere coming in here working at very, very low wages," McNeely said. "When they leave, they are going to take profits and wages and they won't be reinvested in the community. That money is gone."
McNeely said the law has worked effectively, and he feels attempts at repeal are aimed at unions.
"These folks in Indianapolis are so hell bent on eliminating unions they figure this is another step. I got news for them. We are going to survive it somehow anyways," McNeely said.
Ending the common wage is a "misguided effort," said Jim Gribbins, president of Evansville-based Gribbins Insulation. The law allows contractors to hire qualified and trained people, and the industry already has a hard time attracting young people to trade, he said.
Gribbins said the law also sets a tone for what's considered as a fair wage for private construction work.
"(The common wage) is good for unions and good for business and good for contractors and helps us train people. It helps us keep people busy," he said.
Yet, Pence has come out as an advocate for the legislation that would repeal the law. Supporters also include the influential Indiana Chamber of Commerce.
"This is a taxpayer issue. It is about making sure the hard-earned dollars of Hoosier taxpayers are going as far as they can. I think this also would lessen the burden on cash-strapped local schools and local governments," Pence said.
The state chamber's president said though the organization was surprised to see the issue considered this year, it has supported the repeal for decades, according to a statement released after the House committee's vote.
"Other states that do not have a common construction wage law have realized demonstrated cost savings, while maintaining the high-quality work delivered throughout the construction industry," said Kevin Brinegar, the chamber's president and CEO, in a statement.
Under the law, a local board meets to determine a baseline wage for public construction projects involving local and state dollars. Membership on the board includes local residents, a representative of the AFL-CIO and the Associated Builders and Contractors.
House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, a Michigan City Democrat, said he senses there's hesitation across the aisle and that some Republicans will vote against the bill.
Pelath said Democrats didn't attempt to amend the bill before the House is set to take a final vote, because there's no compromise to be had and he didn't want to deter Republicans on the fence over how to vote on the repeal.
"I don't want to make it easier for them to vote ‘yes,'" Pelath said.
Even if the legislation clears the House, it could face a hurdle in the Senate. The chairman of the chamber's Pensions and Labor Committee, state Sen. Phil Boots, a Crawfordsville Republican, said he'd rather a study committee discusses the issue before any decision is made pertaining to the state's common construction wage.