BILL
SUBJECT
DATE
The Business Council opposes this bill, which would require utility companies and their contractors and subcontractors to pay prevailing wage and maintain certified payroll records in circumstances where a local government requires such as a condition of issuance of a permit to use or open a street.
Utility companies would have to maintain original payroll records and transcripts that are currently kept by the contractors and subcontractors. Failure to keep accurate records subscribed and sworn to under penalties of perjury could bring criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance.
This change would be extremely costly and unmanageable for the utility companies. Workers on these projects often change from day to day and the utilities do not currently keep track of worker payroll or fringe benefit records. The utilities would have to have a new level of involvement that the contractors and subcontractors are better suited to handle.
This is an overly burdensome requirement that would subject utilities to unwarranted criminal liability and could inhibit service expansion and other upgrades. For these reasons, the Business council opposes adoption of S.7916-A/A.10774