Institute wants prevailing-wage policy added to special session's agenda (Posted June 15, 2009) .png)
For Immediate Release Contact: Jim Waters
Monday, June 15, 2009 270-782-214
Institute wants prevailing-wage policy added to special session’s agenda
(FRANKFORT, Ky.) — State leaders and fiscal watchdogs Monday criticized the commonwealth’s antiquated and costly system for paying for public construction projects as a special session of the Legislature convened to address the budget shortfall.
“Kentucky’s process of determining wages on schools and courthouses is costly, inefficient and harmful to our economic well-being,” said Jim Waters, director of policy and communications for the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank. “These high wages might satisfy a few labor-union bosses, but they won’t move the commonwealth’s economy forward.”
Gov. Steve Beshear said the state faces a revenue shortfall of nearly $1 billion and called a special session of the Kentucky General Assembly – despite tax increases and dipping into Kentucky’s rainy-day funds earlier this year.
“We can increase our investment in our schools and Kentucky’s children without having to raise one additional dollar from new taxes,” said Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown.
Thayer called for Beshear to add the prevailing-wage issue to the agenda of this week’s special session, which would allow Kentucky to “maximize every taxpayer dollar.”
Paul Kersey, adjunct scholar and national labor expert for the Bluegrass Institute, said Kentucky spends nearly $130 million each year for union-driven wage scales on public projects.
Meanwhile, The Kentucky Department of Education reported that the state’s prevailing-wage policy drove up the cost of school construction by nearly $500 million between 1999 and 2004 – nearly enough to pay for repairs at all Kentucky’s schools.
The special session in Frankfort will cost taxpayers $60,000 a day, Waters said.
“Hard-working Kentucky families must pay for a special session in which few political leaders agree on how to fix the commonwealth’s budget woes – including gambling at racetracks, a primary reason Beshear called the session,” Waters said. “Kentuckians must wonder why their representatives in Frankfort cannot get their work done on time, and why they avoid making the tough decisions that will lead to a better future for our children and grandchildren.”
Find out more about Kentucky’s prevailing-wage policy at:
For interview information, please contact Jim Waters, director of policy and communications for the Bluegrass Institute. He can be reached at 270-782-2140 or jwaters@freedomkentucky.com.
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