In a study evaluating Wisconsin’s approach to calculating prevailing wages and its financial impact on taxpayers, the nonpartisan, nonprofit, and independent Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX) found at least two methodological “flaws” that tend to raise prevailing wages above market rates.

ABC is conducting a survey of ABC contractors who perform federal, state or municipal prevailing wage work in order to help our members benchmark themselves against other merit shop firms that perform similar work. All participants in the survey will receive the full results with analysis after they are compiled and all data will be anonymized before being released. 

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) March 6 signed S.B. 119, which will exempt K-12 and higher education school construction from state prevailing wage requirements beginning immediately.

The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to hear ABC’s appeal in a case that could lead to the invalidation of local prevailing wage ordinances throughout the state. The lawsuit seeks to overturn a May 2014 Michigan Court of Appeals ruling, which overturned a previous Ingham County Circuit Court decision that ruled in ABC’s favor. 

In a court ruling Aug. 28, a San Diego, Calif., superior court judge upheld legislation (S.B. 7) that allows the state to limit construction funding to charter cities that do not subject their locally funded projects to prevailing wage requirements, negatively impacting merit shop contractors that complete public projects within those cities and the taxpayers paying the bill for the projects.  

ABC of Michigan May 28 released its intention to carefully review and appeal the decision made by the Michigan Court of Appeals to reinstate Lansing’s prevailing wage ordinance. ABC of Michigan originally challenged the mandate in 2012.

A Southwest Missouri school district was the first local government entity in the state to take advantage of the changes made to Missouri’s prevailing wage law in an effort to lower construction costs on potential new construction projects.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced a series of Prevailing Wage Seminars for 2014 that will allow attendees to learn more about the Davis-Bacon Act, the process of obtaining wage determinations and adding classification, how to comply, the process of appealing wage rates and more. 

According to a recent study by the Lansing, Mich.-based Anderson Economic Group (AEG), Michigan’s prevailing wage law costs taxpayers and the state’s public schools millions each year in higher construction costs—adding up to more than 315 elementary school buildings that could have been built in the past decade with the money lost to prevailing wages.

ABC of California expressed their concern and opposition for two bills signed into law Oct. 13 by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) that will expand prevailing wage requirements and drive up the costs of local public and private projects.