A study released by the University of Kentucky Center for Business and Economic Research concluded that West Virginia’s prevailing wage mandate, repealed by the state legislature in 2016, inflated the cost of public school construction. By comparing projects bid from 2013 to 2018 and using data provided by the West Virginia School Building Authority, the authors determined that the cost of projects bid without a prevailing wage requirement were 7.3 percent lower than those bid with government-mandated wages. It is estimated that repealing the law in 2016 has already delivered approximately $1 million in savings to taxpayers on school projects alone. 

Further, the study found no conclusive research to support claims that quality and safety on public construction projects in West Virginia has been affected by repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law. 

Read more about the study from ABC West Virginia here.