Minimum hourly wages for procurement contracts entered into by an executive branch agency, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty. (FE)

What it would have done

Summary by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Under current law, an executive branch agency may contract for services if the services can be performed more economically or efficiently by contract than by a state employee. This bill generally requires a person who has a contract with the state to provide services valued at $100,000 or more to pay each full-time employee over age 18 who spends at least one-half of his or her work time performing work under the contract an hourly wage that is at least equal to the lesser of an hourly wage paid to a state employee completing similar duties or an "hourly living wage." Under this bill, the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) must calculate the "hourly living wage" as the quotient of the federal poverty level for a three-person household and 2080, and must post the most recent hourly living wage on a publicly available Internet site. The bill provides that a contractor may provide a lower hourly wage amount if the contractor provides health insurance or contributes to the employee's deferred compensation plan.

Under this bill, DWD enforces the wage requirement. If DWD receives a complaint that a contractor has violated the requirement, DWD must investigate the complaint in a manner similar to how it investigates other alleged wage claims. If DWD finds that the contractor has paid an employee an amount that is less than the minimum hourly wage amount, DWD must order the contractor to pay the employee the amount of his or her unpaid wages and to pay a forfeiture of $20 per day per such employee and may order the contractor to pay the employee additional liquidated damages in an amount up to the amount of the unpaid wages. In addition, under current law, the Department of Administration (DOA) must maintain a list of persons who have violated laws governing state procurement and the persons on the list are ineligible for state contracts. Under this bill, a person who is found to have paid its employees an amount that is less than the minimum hourly wage amount would be added to that list of ineligible persons.

Who's behind it

24 lawmakers are its authors⁠. All 24 are Democrats.

6 more lawmakers signed on in support⁠.

What it would cost

State agencies filed a cost estimate. Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

• Fiscal Estimate From DOA
• Fiscal Estimate From DWD