Bill Text: NJ A4291 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Expands circumstances under which prevailing wage must be paid.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-05-13 - Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee [A4291 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4291-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblyman JOSEPH V. EGAN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Expands circumstances under which prevailing wage must be paid.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning prevailing wage and amending P.L.1963, c.150 and P.L.1979, c.303.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1979, c.303 (C.34:1B-5.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority shall adopt rules and regulations requiring that not less than the prevailing wage rate be paid to workers employed in the performance of any construction contract, including contracts for millwork fabrication, undertaken in connection with authority financial assistance or any of its projects, those projects which it undertakes pursuant to P.L.2002, c.43 (C.52:27BBB-1 et al.), or undertaken to fulfill any condition of receiving authority financial assistance, including the performance of any contract to construct, renovate or otherwise prepare a facility for operations which are necessary for the receipt of authority financial assistance, [unless the] including work performed [under the contract is performed] on a facility owned by a landlord of the entity receiving the assistance [and less than 55% of the facility] that is leased by the entity at the time of the contract and under any agreement to subsequently lease the facility. The prevailing wage rate shall be the rate determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.). For the purposes of this section, "authority financial assistance" means any loan, loan guarantee, grant, incentive, tax exemption or other financial assistance that is approved, funded, authorized, administered or provided by the authority to any entity and is provided before, during or after completion of a project, including but not limited to, all authority financial assistance received by the entity pursuant to the "Business Employment Incentive Program Act," P.L.1996, c.26 (C.34:1B-124 et al.) that enables the entity to engage in a construction contract, but this section shall not be construed as requiring the payment of the prevailing wage for construction commencing more than two years after an entity has executed with the authority a commitment letter regarding authority financial assistance and the first payment or other provision of the assistance is received.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.245, s.1)
2. Section 2 of P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.26) is amended to read as follows:
2. As used in this act:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Labor and Workforce Development of the State of New Jersey.
(2) "Locality" means any political subdivision of the State, combination of the same or parts thereof, or any geographical area or areas classified, designated and fixed by the commissioner from time to time, provided that in determining the "locality," the commissioner shall be guided by the boundary lines of political subdivisions or parts thereof, or by a consideration of the areas with respect to which it has been the practice of employers of particular crafts or trades to engage in collective bargaining with the representatives of workers in such craft or trade.
(3) "Maintenance work" means the repair of existing facilities when the size, type or extent of such facilities is not thereby changed or increased. "Maintenance work" also means any work on a maintenance-related project that exceeds the scope of work and capabilities of in-house maintenance personnel, requires the solicitation of bids, and has an aggregate value exceeding $50,000.
(4) "Public body" means the State of New Jersey, any of its political subdivisions, any authority created by the Legislature of the State of New Jersey and any instrumentality or agency of the State of New Jersey or of any of its political subdivisions.
(5) "Public work" means construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration, custom fabrication, or repair work, or maintenance work, including painting and decorating, done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of the funds of a public body, except work performed under a rehabilitation program. "Public work" shall also mean construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration, custom fabrication, or repair work, done on any property or premises, whether or not the work is paid for from public funds, if, at the time of the entering into of the contract the property or premises is owned by the public body or:
(a) [Not less than 55% of the] The property or premises is leased by a public body, or is subject to an agreement to be subsequently leased by the public body; and
(b) The portion of the property or premises that is leased or subject to an agreement to be subsequently leased by the public body measures more than [20,000] 10,000 square feet.
(6) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development or his duly authorized representatives.
(7) "Workman" or "worker" includes laborer, mechanic, skilled or semi-skilled, laborer and apprentices or helpers employed by any contractor or subcontractor and engaged in the performance of services directly upon a public work, regardless of whether their work becomes a component part thereof, but does not include material suppliers or their employees who do not perform services at the job site. For the purpose of P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.), contractors or subcontractors engaged in custom fabrication shall not be regarded as material suppliers.
(8) "Work performed under a rehabilitation program" means work arranged by and at a State institution primarily for teaching and upgrading the skills and employment opportunities of the inmates of such institutions.
(9) "Prevailing wage" means the wage rate paid by virtue of collective bargaining agreements by employers employing a majority of workers of that craft or trade subject to said collective bargaining agreements, in the locality in which the public work is done.
(10) "Act" means the provisions of P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.) and the rules and regulations issued hereunder.
(11) "Prevailing wage contract threshold amount" means:
(a) In the case of any public work paid for in whole or in part out of the funds of a municipality in the State of New Jersey or done on property or premises owned by a public body or leased or to be leased by the municipality, the dollar amount established for the then current calendar year by the commissioner through rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), which amount shall be equal to $9,850 on July 1, 1994 and which amount shall be adjusted on July 1 every five calendar years thereafter in direct proportion to the rise or fall in the average of the Consumer Price Indices for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the New York metropolitan and the Philadelphia metropolitan regions as reported by the United States Department of Labor during the last full calendar year preceding the date upon which the adjustment is made; and
(b) In the case of any public work other than a public work described in paragraph (a) of this subsection, an amount equal to $2,000.
(12) "Custom fabrication" means the fabrication of plumbing, heating, cooling, ventilation or exhaust duct systems, and mechanical insulation.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.249, s.1)
3. This act shall take effect on the 30th day next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill expands the circumstances under which the prevailing wage must be paid with regard to a property that is or will be leased by a public body.
Pursuant to current law, the prevailing wage must be paid on most construction that is considered public work. Public work is construction done on any property, whether or not the work is paid for from public funds, if, at the time of the entering into of the contract the property is owned by a public body or:
(1) not less than 55 percent of the property is or will be leased by a public body; and
(2) the portion of the property that is or will be leased measures more than 20,000 square feet.
This bill lowers the threshold for leased property being subject to the prevailing wage. Under the bill, prevailing wage applies to work if the property is or will be leased by a public body and the portion of the property that is or will be leased measures more than 10,000 square feet.
The bill also lowers the threshold for being subject to the prevailing wage so that all properties leased by public bodies that receive funds from the Economic Development Authority are subject to the prevailing wage.
