West Virginia Public News, Hampshire Review, Gilmer Free Press – People pushing to end West Virginia’s prevailing wage law say the move is intended to cut the cost of building schools and other public construction projects. But several new studies warn that a repeal would raise costs instead. Read
The prevailing wage law mandates that construction workers on public projects make the going rate for their specialty in a given area. Sean O’Leary, policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, says his group’s analysis of the new research shows repealing the law would actually cost the state in the long run.
“Our construction costs are actually lower than a lot of our neighboring states, like Virginia, Ohio, that don’t have prevailing wage laws,” says O’Leary.
