STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2975

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2641

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation and Government Operations and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 2641, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC WORK PROJECTS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require a construction project owner who undertakes a construction project to be used by the State or a county to sign a lease or other agreement that certifies compliance with the State's public works prevailing wage law.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Carpenters Union. Testimony in opposition was received from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Department of Accounting and General Services, Honolulu Department of Community Services, Hawaii County Office of Housing and Community Development, and Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii which withdrew its opposition after reviewing the proposed SD1 language. Comments were received from the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. – Hawaii Chapter.

Your Committees find that this measure closes an apparent loophole in current law of whether the requirement of paying prevailing wages on public works projects applies to construction projects built by the private sector and leased by the government according to agreement prior to construction.

This measure applies to public works that include a construction contract between private persons if more than fifty percent of the assignable square feet of a project is leased or assigned for use by the State, any county, or any agency of the State or any county for its use, whether or not the property is privately owned and under certain specified circumstances. Copies of the lease or other agreement with the contracting governmental entity would be required to be filed with the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Department of Accounting and General Services.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting its contents and inserting a provision to require a construction project owner who undertakes a construction project to be leased by the State or a county, or to be constructed pursuant to a state or county plan, to sign a lease agreement that certifies compliance with the State's public works prevailing wage law; and

(2) Changing the effective date to upon approval.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Government Operations and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2641, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2641, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Government Operations and Labor,

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BRIAN KANNO, Chair

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair