MBI Defeats Prevailing Wage Bills in Pennsylvania

In May of this year, the Pennsylvania legislature introduced two bills, HB2153 and SB841, that would have expanded the state’s prevailing wage requirements in modular factories for all state-funded projects including housing, schools, and government offices, essentially eliminating those markets for our industry. The voting portion of the legislative session ended yesterday with both bills dying in the Senate.

"After our initial outreach to the bill sponsors and the Governor’s office," said John Hannah-Spacagna, MBI's government affairs director, "it was clear that the Governor was in full support of these bills and would sign them if passed by the legislature. MBI has worked diligently with Republican leaders in both the House and Senate to prevent these bills from progressing."

The state union lobbying effort was extensive. Despite promises by Senate leaders that the bills would never make it out of the Republican-led committees, both did. Senate Bill 841 even made it through to a first of three required readings on the Senate floor before the session ended.

"This was a close call," said Tom Hardiman, MBI's executive director. "Situations like this are why we need the industry to support MBI's Modular Advocacy Program so we can continue to protect and promote our industry. When we defeated expansion of the Davis-Bacon Act to force prevailing wages into our factories on federally-funded projects, we recognized that states like Pennsylvania who have 'Little Davis-Bacon' laws would likely try to expand them, too. We need to be prepared as other states will likely follow Pennsylvania’s lead and try to enact similar legislation in the years to come."

"Let’s celebrate this win today," concluded Hardiman, "but let’s be sure we’re prepared for our next fight!"