Prevailing wage to get hearing

By Marc Kovac

One lawmaker said the Senate will work with the governor to ensure jobs can come to Ohio.

COLUMBUS — Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ted Strickland have reached a compromise on prevailing wage guidelines, agreeing to jointly consider the issue through the state’s rule-making process.

The administration agreed to convert guidelines issued earlier this year into draft rules, thus requiring additional discussions and formal filing with the state’s Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.

The Republicans backing pending legislation that would have set prevailing-wage guidelines agreed to pull that bill from further consideration.

“This process will allow the General Assembly and all stakeholders to comment and propose changes to the department’s guidelines,” Kimberly Zurz, director of the Ohio Department of Commerce, told members of the Senate’s Finance and Financial Institutions Committee.

“We will work together to provide the best opportunity for jobs that we can in Ohio,” added Sen. John Carey, a Republican from Wellston who serves as committee chairman.

Carey was the primary sponsor of Senate Bill 376, which attempted to clarify which building projects receiving public support would be subject to prevailing-wage requirements, essentially paying workers union-level wages.

Opponents believe prevailing-wage guideline changes made by Strickland earlier this year amounted to an expansion of prevailing wage for projects receiving lower levels of public support.

Economic developers and business leaders from across the state testified in recent weeks that issue was hampering their efforts to accommodate company expansions and investments in the state.

Republicans were poised to put the bill before the full Senate for a vote next week, allowing adequate time for the Republican-led Ohio House to do the same. They believed they had more than enough votes to pass the measure.

Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican from Ashland, said Wednesday afternoon, “I’m prepared to pass, and we will pass, the prevailing wage [bill] unless we are able to get that type of opportunity to negotiate that language.”

That opportunity was solidified Thursday, with Zurz informing the Senate finance committee of the administration’s willingness to jointly consider the guidelines.

“The department’s intent was to provide stakeholders with a full and transparent understanding of how the department applies the [prevailing-wage] law,” she said during short testimony. “After hearing comments from the legislative leadership ... and other stakeholders, the administration has concluded that converting guidelines into draft rules and putting them through the administrative rule-making process will ensure that all voices will have the opportunity to be heard.”

Carey said afterward that the decision was a “good resolution” on the issue.

“In this time of economic hardship, we want to be on the same page with the administration on creating and retaining jobs,” he said. “... So, if we can come together and work out some kind of compromise, I think that’s the best thing for Ohio.”

mkovac@dixcom.com