AB 296

Generally, under the current prevailing wage laws, laborers, workers,

mechanics, and truck drivers employed on the site of certain projects of public works

1) must be paid the prevailing wage rate, as determined by the U.S. Department of

Labor under the federal Davis-Bacon Act; and 2) may not be required or permitted

to work a greater number of hours per day and per week than the prevailing hours

of labor, which is no more than 10 hours per day and 40 hours per week, unless they

are paid 1.5 times their basic rate of pay (commonly referred to as overtime pay) for

all hours worked in excess of the prevailing hours of labor. The prevailing wage laws

include two separate laws: one that applies to certain projects of public works to

which the state or any state agency is a party (state prevailing wage law) and one that

applies to projects under a contract based on bids to which the state is a party for the

construction or improvement of highways (highway prevailing wage law). Also

under current law, no local government may enact or administer a prevailing wage

law ordinance or any similar ordinance.

This bill eliminates the state prevailing wage law and the highway prevailing

wage law but retains the prohibition against local governments enacting or

administrating their own prevailing wage laws or similar ordinances.