Bill Text: NJ S3159 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Extends prevailing wage requirements to certain for-sale housing projects.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-11-05 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee [S3159 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S3159-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Extends prevailing wage requirements to certain for-sale housing projects.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning prevailing wage requirements and amending P.L.1983, c.530.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 42 of P.L.1983, c.530 (C.55:14K-42) is amended to read as follows:
42. a. Each qualified housing sponsor granted a loan from the agency, or any builder, contractor or subcontractor engaged by the qualified housing sponsor for the construction or rehabilitation of any housing project, shall pay the [workmen] workers employed in the performance of any contract for such construction or rehabilitation not less than the prevailing wage rate. The prevailing wage rate shall be determined by the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development in all cases, except that the prevailing rate shall be determined by the Secretary of the United States Department of Labor in accordance with [the Davis-Bacon Act as amended (40 U.S.C. 276a to 276a-5)] 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq., when the loan from the agency for the construction or rehabilitation of a housing project or the tenants of the housing project [is] are the subject of direct or indirect federal assistance other than the federal tax exemption of the interest paid on the agency obligations.
b. Any person, partnership, corporation or association, that is not a nonprofit or charitable entity qualified pursuant to section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. s.501(c)(3)), that is not required to pay prevailing wage pursuant to subsection a. of this section, and that receives a loan from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency directly from the agency or indirectly from an institutional lender for any work, whether new construction, improvement or rehabilitation of buildings which are designed for the primary purpose of providing for-sale multi-family housing, shall pay each worker employed in the work not less than the prevailing wage rate for the worker's craft or trade, as determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development pursuant to P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.), unless the building is less than five stories tall, in which case each worker shall be paid not less than the prevailing wage rate for the worker's craft or trade, as determined by the Secretary of the United States Department of Labor in accordance with 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq..
c. The Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development [is authorized to, and shall, determine the prevailing wage rate and] shall [establish] designate the prevailing wage in the locality in which the construction or rehabilitation of any housing project subject to the provisions of this section or any for-sale multi-family housing subject to the provisions of this section is to be performed for each craft or trade or classification of all [workmen] workers employed in the performance of such construction or rehabilitation, as if such construction or rehabilitation were "public work" within the meaning of P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.). For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section, the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development and any [workmen] workers employed in the performance of any contract for the construction or rehabilitation of any housing project subject to the provisions of this section or any for-sale multi-family housing subject to the provisions of this section, shall have and may exercise or perform any right, power or duty granted or imposed upon them by P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.).
d. For the purposes of this section, "multi-family housing" shall not include buildings constructed as townhouses, which are single dwelling units with two or more stories of living space, exclusive of basement or attic, with most or all of the sleeping areas on one story and with most of the remaining habitable space, such as kitchen, living, and dining areas, on another story, and with an independent entrance at or near grade level.
(cf: P.L.1983, c.530, s.42)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The bill extends the current prevailing wage requirement to construction and rehabilitation work performed under New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) loans for work for the purpose of providing five or more units of for-sale housing, made pursuant to the "New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Law of 1983.
The change reflects the fact that HMFA makes loans to both rental and non-rental housing projects. Currently, a loan from HMFA subjects a project to payment of prevailing wage rates only if the project is to be comprised of rental units. By making this change, the bill promotes consistency for applicability of prevailing wage rates, regardless of the type of housing that HMFA subsidizes.
