HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

152nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 296

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PREVAILING WAGE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend § 6960, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 6960. Prevailing wage requirements.

(a) (1) The Except as provided under paragraph (a)(3) of this section, the specifications for every contract or aggregate of contracts relating to a public works project in excess of $500,000 for new construction (including painting and decorating) or $45,000 for alteration, repair, renovation, rehabilitation, demolition or reconstruction (including painting and decorating of buildings or works) to which this State or any subdivision thereof is a party and for which the State appropriated any part of the funds and which requires or involves the employment of mechanics and/or laborers shall contain a provision stating the minimum wages to be paid various classes of laborers and mechanics which shall be based upon the wages that will be determined by the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs, to be prevailing in the county in which the work is to be performed. As of January 1, 2016, the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs shall establish the prevailing wage for each respective craft or class of laborers and mechanics at the same rates established in collective bargaining agreements between labor organizations and their employers, or when collective bargaining agreement rates do not prevail, that govern work of a similar nature and similar crafts or classes of laborers and mechanics for the county where the public works contract will be performed if that particular labor organization’s collective bargaining rate prevailed and they participated in the survey, for that particular trade or craft in that particular county for 4 consecutive years. When collective bargaining rates do not apply, the prevailing wage shall be the highest rate of the 4 years. If the agreed rate of pay is designated to be the craft’s collective bargaining agreement, the annual rate adjustment will be determined by the collective bargaining agreement rate for each craft and county, each year. When collective bargaining rates do not prevail, the annual rate adjustment shall be the Consumer Price Index-Construction. If the prevailing wage cannot be reasonably and fairly determined in any locality because no such agreements exists or the collective bargaining rate has not prevailed for 4 consecutive years the Department shall use the prevailing wage as established by the Department’s annual prevailing wage survey. There will be a 1-time challenge of the prevailing wage rate per cycle as in the Department regulations.

(2) For each respective craft or class of laborers or mechanics, the craft or class whose collectively bargained wages as of January 1, 2015, for that particular labor organization’s collective bargaining rate prevailed for that particular trade or craft in that particular county is the prevailing wage rate and whose rate has prevailed for 4 of the last 5 years, or will prevail in the future for 4 consecutive years, shall have their collective bargaining agreement adopted as the prevailing wage rate negotiated by industry standards between workers and employers and the raise be determined by the collective bargaining agreement rate as of September 1 for that craft, county, and year.

(3) This section does not apply to a school district or charter school.

(4) All other provisions of this law are to remain unchanged.

SYNOPSIS

This Act grants school districts and charter schools the ability to decide if they want to pay prevailing wage for school construction projects.

This Act is in response to rising school construction costs. Between Fiscal Year 2023 and Fiscal Year 2024 school districts and charter schools stated they experienced $260,163,873 in market pressure inflation and asked the State to support a share of that, specifically $175,331,704.

This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.