Respected Delegates,
Thank you for your time today. I am submitting comment on HB 569 Public works contracts; localities to ensure bid specifications are prevailing wage rate.
I am Director of Community Development for the City of Buena Vista, one of the state’s smallest cities. I routinely work with grants for construction and public works as defined in this bill. At a time when Buena Vista’s infrastructure is in desperate need of deferred maintenance and reconstruction, and construction costs have increased far faster than inflation, this proposal will significantly drive up costs for essential public works. It burdens construction projects with unrelated socio-economic policy goals, ballooning the cost to our taxpayers of actually getting things done. The requirements of the bill will do two things: increase costs and risks for contractors (employers), and increase the costs and risks for local governments.
Costs and risks for contractors:
• Direct administrative cost to contractors is added to bottom line of bid, as well as cost of liability risk for noncompliance
• Some contractors do not have experience or capacity to handle prevailing wage compliance, resulting in fewer bidders for City projects
• § 2.2-4321.3 paragraph H appears to require all subcontractors be registered with eVA, which adds to the complexity and cost for primes
• § 2.2-4321.3 paragraph K requires that all employees working on a public contract have at least 4 years of work experience, or be part of a registered apprenticeship. How is this realistic? This penalizes employers and it penalizes young workers trying to enter the field who are not part of a registered apprenticeship.
Costs and risks for localities:
• Direct administrative cost of more complex procurement documents and process, including wage determinations, and auditing contracted employers. The City of Buena Vista does not currently have staff who are trained in Davis-Bacon wage rule compliance, nor do we have staff with time to perform this compliance work.
• Fewer bidders for projects. Buena Vista has direct experience on several contracts within the last 5 years – Federal contracting provisions like Davis-Bacon have driven away contractors interested in performing work and measurably increased the cost of awarded contract.
• The City bears some liability for improperly advertised or non-compliant projects
I urge Committee members to reject this bill entirely. Thank you.
Respected Delegates, Thank you for your time today. I am submitting comment on HB 569 Public works contracts; localities to ensure bid specifications are prevailing wage rate. I am Director of Community Development for the City of Buena Vista, one of the state’s smallest cities. I routinely work with grants for construction and public works as defined in this bill. At a time when Buena Vista’s infrastructure is in desperate need of deferred maintenance and reconstruction, and construction costs have increased far faster than inflation, this proposal will significantly drive up costs for essential public works. It burdens construction projects with unrelated socio-economic policy goals, ballooning the cost to our taxpayers of actually getting things done. The requirements of the bill will do two things: increase costs and risks for contractors (employers), and increase the costs and risks for local governments. Costs and risks for contractors: • Direct administrative cost to contractors is added to bottom line of bid, as well as cost of liability risk for noncompliance • Some contractors do not have experience or capacity to handle prevailing wage compliance, resulting in fewer bidders for City projects • § 2.2-4321.3 paragraph H appears to require all subcontractors be registered with eVA, which adds to the complexity and cost for primes • § 2.2-4321.3 paragraph K requires that all employees working on a public contract have at least 4 years of work experience, or be part of a registered apprenticeship. How is this realistic? This penalizes employers and it penalizes young workers trying to enter the field who are not part of a registered apprenticeship. Costs and risks for localities: • Direct administrative cost of more complex procurement documents and process, including wage determinations, and auditing contracted employers. The City of Buena Vista does not currently have staff who are trained in Davis-Bacon wage rule compliance, nor do we have staff with time to perform this compliance work. • Fewer bidders for projects. Buena Vista has direct experience on several contracts within the last 5 years – Federal contracting provisions like Davis-Bacon have driven away contractors interested in performing work and measurably increased the cost of awarded contract. • The City bears some liability for improperly advertised or non-compliant projects I urge Committee members to reject this bill entirely. Thank you.