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The Business Council is strongly opposed to any extension of public works prevailing wage mandates to private sector projects, whether they are supported through the Regional Economic Development Council process or receive state support through other mechanisms.
Imposing prevailing wage requirements on REDC capital grant recipients will impose significant additional costs on both private sector employers and not-for-profit organizations, as a significant share of REDC capital support goes to non-profits including social service providers, arts and tourism organizations and others.
New York State also typically sets regional public works prevailing wages well above actual regional wage levels, especially in upstate communities, further increasing the impact of this mandate.
Adding wage mandates to projects receiving state support is counterproductive to the state’s economic development efforts. Capital grants and tax credits are intended to offset the high cost of investing and creating jobs in New York State. It makes no sense to mitigate costs with one state program while increasing project costs with a second state program.
For these reasons, we strongly oppose expansion of prevailing wage mandates.