Senate Bill 116, introduced today, would require a three-year exemption on prevailing wages for school construction. It would also require public schools to give a cost study to the Controller General’s Office.
Sponsored by Senator Gary Simpson along with Senator Greg Lavelle and State Reps Danny Short and Deb Hudson. Co-sponsors include six GOP Senators and six GOP State Reps.
I find it very interesting they chose school construction for this given the audit that came out last week against Sussex Technical School District. If there is some secret deal or compromise to pass the state budget, this would be the key legislation the Delaware Republicans have been looking for. Don’t count it out until everyone goes home on July 1st. Strange things happen the night of June 30th and the early hours of July 1st. A bill could be dead, and presto, it has a suspension of rules.
I would have to image the unions are already opposing this bill. Call me crazy, but I would guess they aren’t strong supporters.
The Season Of Myths 
Start building Schools in Wilmington already. It amazes me they keep building where the students do not live.
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Click to access OMB_MC3804000080a_wage.pdf
Prevailing wage scales put a majority of construction labor at 75% ~ 100% ABOVE the median income for ALL of the state of Delaware (current estimates for Delaware are the median is 60k to 73K). ‘Median’ income is the approximate amount of what 50% of the earners make. Taken in the context of all the people who receive wages. So Delaware’s prevailing wage, regardless of what county you’re in, supplies wages that are 2X what 50 % of ALL earners make.
For comparison here are the rates of physicians;
http://www.payscale.com/r.aspx?path=/US/People_with_Jobs_as_Physicians_%2f_Doctors/Hourly_Rate
The training to be pediatric physician far exceeds the training required to be a piledriver or cement finisher but according to prevailing wage laws, they are commensurate of what the state should pay.
This is not bashing trades or construction jobs. It is solely about the wages they receive on state jobs.
The budget is 400 million in the red and our Democratic controlled state has refused to address the overly inflated prevailing wages for decades. Delaware has paid doctor’s rates for every project over $500,000.00. Every project of this type then has cost, at a minimum, double what it would have cost had prevailing wage not been in place. Delawareans have paid BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to appease unions while struggling Delawareans can’t even earn the median income. Our representatives are not representing the majority of Delawareans when they support these extortionist rates.
We can’t afford school buildings because they cost 2-3 times what they should and yet parents are shamed about supporting referendums? The scale of this problem cannot be overstated. Any defense of prevailing wages is nothing more than graft to the unions and extortion of the taxpayers. Think how many teachers could be hired if the building they teach in, cost half as much.
Dover HS cost $87,000,000.00 compared to what a non prevailing wage building which could have been $50,000,000.00 $37,000,000.00 saved / $75,000.00 per teacher = 493 teachers that could have been hired. You want specialists, paraprofessionals, counselors, sports programs, art programs? Prevailing wages stop these dead in their tracks and Delawarean Representatives keep ignoring it.
Honorable Democratic Representatives, Please ‘Honor’ Delawareans and stop this insanity. Delawareans cannot afford it.
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