LANSING, Mich.—The Michigan Legislature voted June 6 to repeal the state’s prevailing-wage law, 
eliminating pay standards for public construction projects. The bill passed with exclusively Republican votes, 56-53 in the state House and 23-14 in the Senate, with seven GOP members in the House and four in the Senate joining the Democrats voting no. Because prevailing-wage opponents collected enough signatures to bring repeal to the Legislature before putting an initiative on the November ballot, the measure will become law without Gov. Rick Snyder’s signature. State Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Williams Township, called prevailing-wage standards an “antiquated price-fixing scheme.” “Thanks for screwing my family,” a protester shouted after the House vote. Construction wages in neighboring Indiana have fallen by 8.5% since it repealed its prevailing-wage law in 2015, pushed through by then-Gov. Mike Pence. “The best workers in the state will be forced to leave at a time when we need all our workers the most,” Laborers Local 1191 business representative Jirmere Moses told the Detroit Free Press. “Michigan is on a construction boom. And if you repeal prevailing wage, Michigan will be left with out-of-state contractors who don’t play by our rules.” Read more
