Legislation eliminating Indiana’s common construction wage is one step away from becoming law after the House Thursday sent the controversial bill to the governor’s desk.
Debate over the future of the state’s minimum wage for workers on public construction projects is almost over.
The House version of the common wage repeal bill was simple: it just eliminated the common construction wage. But as Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, notes, the Senate made significant additions to the bill in response to a specific concern.
“Quote-unquote ‘out of state and fly-by-night contractors’ would come in and wouldn’t be really qualified but would nevertheless would come in and have the low bid that would have to be taken,” Torr says. “I never really bought that argument.”
The bill aims to address that concern by creating new requirements for contractors on public projects, including mandated training programs.
But House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, says the Senate’s changes don’t matter; he says the core of the bill is an attack on Indiana companies
“We are undermining an age-old business model that has brought forth jobs for hundreds of thousands of workers,” Pelath says.
The House agreed to the Senate’s changes, sending the bill to the governor by a vote of 54-40. The governor, an outspoken proponent of the measure, is expected to sign it.
