HB 1498 -- FAIRNESS IN PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION ACT

SPONSOR:  Dethrow

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Workforce
Development and Workplace Safety by a vote of 7 to 5.

This bill establishes the Fairness in Public Construction Act to
fulfill the state's proprietary objectives by maintaining and
promoting economical, nondiscriminatory, and efficient
expenditures of public funds in connection with publicly funded
or assisted construction projects.

State and political agencies cannot impose certain labor
requirements as conditions for performing public works projects.
Public entities procuring products or services or entering into
contracts for the manufacture of public works must ensure that
their agreements do not bind the other parties to an agreement
with a labor organization.  Public entities cannot discriminate
against other parties who refuse to adhere to agreements with
labor organizations on the same or related projects.  Public
entities will not require other parties to enforce any agreement
that requires its employees to become a member, pay dues, or pay
fees to a labor organization in excess of costs already paid.
Any interested party has standing to challenge agreements that
violate these provisions.

Any employer is prohibited from directly or indirectly receiving
from another project any wage subsidies, bid supplements, or
rebates from any employee or labor organization for a
construction project or from any third party to subsidize labor
costs on a public works construction project.  Any contractor or
subcontractor who violates these provisions will be required to
pay the public body twice the amount of the subsidy received.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds in FY 2007, FY 2008, and
FY 2009.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the public interest is not
served if the best contract is not selected because of unfair
contracting laws.  Job targeting by certain contractors
perpetuates an unfair contract bidding practice that
discriminates against open shop contractors.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Dethrow; Karl Sigler,
Enterprise Interiors; Associated Industries of Missouri;
Associated Builders and Contractors; Missouri Chamber of Commerce
and Industry; Independent Electrical Contractors Association of
Greater St. Louis; and National Federation of Independent
Business.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that the current
contracting system should be fixed rather than dismantled and
scraped.  Union laborers median income level is stable as opposed
to most other laborers whose incomes have declined.

Testifying against the bill were St. Louis Area Contractors; Fred
Weber, Incorporated; Missouri AFL-CIO; and Plumbers and
Pipefitters Local #562.

Roland Tackett, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
93rd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated November 29, 2006 at 9:43 am