COLUMBUS — Ohio Republicans are putting a target on workers’ backs once again, as they propose anti-prevailing wage legislation that will lower incomes for blue-collar workers, while doing nothing to help taxpayers.
“Since January 2019, Ohio has lost more than 4,000 jobs, and our economy is struggling because of Donald Trump’s failed trade war and broken promises,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. “Ohio’s average wage is below the national average, and it’s below what it was here 40 years ago, when you adjust for inflation. The Ohio Republican response to our stagnant economy is to drive down wages for blue-collar workers by pushing legislation to undermine the state’s prevailing wage law. In addition, this proposal will do nothing to help taxpayers because these laws actually help to ensure public projects are completed on time, on budget and with high levels of workmanship.”
A 2008 Economic Policy Institute report found that “prevailing wage regulations do not increase government contracting costs.”
When this legislation was introduced in 2017, the bill’s prime sponsor revealed how a local village mayor had subverted state law and steered a contract to a friend, who constructed a building — without following the prevailing wage law — and then sold it to the village. When reporters questioned the legality of that arrangement, the bill sponsor refused to reveal the mayor’s name or municipality.
