« Lawmakers Dialog About Rural Schools’ Challenges | Home | Republican JFC Members on Education Issues »
WisPolitics Political Stock Report: Prevailing Wage is Falling
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | May 4, 2015
From WisPolitics:
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ comments on a radio talk show mirror what he’s been saying all along: The political will isn’t there in the Legislature to repeal prevailing wage. But it still sends conservatives into a tizzy after right-wing media have spent weeks trying to tee up a repeal as a follow-up to right-to-work. To Capitol insiders, the dynamic on prevailing wage has been fairly static for weeks. Republicans who weren’t thrilled with taking up right-to-work don’t have the appetite for repealing prevailing wage this session. Right-to-work already has soured the GOP’s relationship with contractors, and doing prevailing wage would only exacerbate that. Also, it’s a much easier lift to “reform” prevailing wage than to repeal it. But after winning a surprisingly easy victory on right-to-work, conservatives want more. Though leadership continues to downplay support for the change in their houses, Senate Labor and Government Reform Committee Chair Steve Nass announces he’ll hold a public hearing Tuesday on legislation to repeal prevailing wage with an exec two days later. Nass and fellow Republican committee member Van Wanggaard are both co-sponsors of the bill, giving it a guaranteed two votes in committee. But both Dem members oppose the bill, and Sen. Howard Marklein, the third GOP member of the committee, tells WisPoliitcs.com he has doubts about how much repealing prevailing wage would save. Instead, he says making tweaks to the law is a more likely route. Backers insist the committee vote is a new opportunity to create momentum for repeal with pressure on Marklein. But the freshman state senator is from well outside the signal strength of Milwaukee talk radio and holds a Dem-leaning seat in southwestern Wisconsin. If backers can get Marklein to go along with the bill, it would put pressure on Senate leaders to bring it up for a vote. But some don’t see a path to passage in the full Senate. Meanwhile, some suggest the guv’s absence this year is playing a role in the debate. Vos goes public with some concerns that others in his party had expressed privately. The Rochester Republican says Walker hasn’t “been out there” on the bill and lawmakers sometimes need the guv to step up and help with message on something like this. Walker, when asked about it this week, says he has higher budget priorities than a repeal right now.
Topics: Legislative Action, SAA Capitol Reports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Comments are closed.