Residency
Bill(s) Take A Giant Leap Toward Finalization!
This week finally saw a great
deal of movement on our House and Senate bills that would prohibit the
state and all local governments from imposing residency/local hiring
requirements on public works projects. After many months of delays and
multiple false starts, the Ohio House of Representatives passed Senate Bill
152 (Uecker, R-Loveland) out of committee on Tuesday and then passed it out
of the House on Wednesday.
The reason for the delay was the
insistence by House leadership to add a very controversial amendment that
would have prohibited the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on
projects funded with state dollars. It took several months of intense
arm-twisting by leadership to get the votes from its Republican caucus. 50
votes were needed to pass the bill on the floor, and they all had to come
from the GOP side of the aisle, as no Democrat would support a bill with
the PLA amendment. In the end, the bill passed with a razor-thin margin of
51 votes. The PLA amendment became the focus of the bill, with the
residency prohibition taking a back seat. Without the PLA amendment, the
bill would have passed with much more support, including some votes from
the Democratic side of the aisle. Immediately after passage, the House
promptly sent the Senate Bill back to the Senate for a concurrence vote.
The Senate’s options were to ignore the message from the House or to have a
floor vote on whether to concur or not concur. If not concurring the Senate
could then let the bill die, or request a conference committee with the
House to work out the differences. If the Senate concurred, the bill would
have been on its way to the Governor. To read this article in its entirety,
click here.
The
Ohio Contractors PAC Needs Your Support; Please Contribute Today
Please help support OCA’s
legislative agenda by supporting the Ohio Contractors Political Action
Committee. In addition to the national election, this is also an election
year for the State Legislature.
We are on the cusp of passing long-awaited legislation to prohibit the
state and cities from imposing residency requirements on public works
projects (see related article). We’ve successfully held off recent attempts
to raise force account limits for townships. We’ve been instrumental in
stopping unemployment compensation legislation that would have devastated
our members’ workforce.
Part of the reason for our success at the statehouse is due to your
contributions to the Ohio Contractors Political Action Committee. Having an
active PAC allows OCA’s lobbyist to attend fundraisers and build
relationships with legislators who are deciding which laws get passed and
which don’t. It allows us to support the campaigns of those legislators and
statewide candidates who value good government by supporting our issues.
Your business is directly affected, every day, by the funding and policy decisions
the governor and legislature pass and implement regarding ODOT, Workers
Compensation, unemployment, local governments, and many others. It is
important for our industry and for you individually to engage financially
via the Ohio Contractors PAC to ensure that our voice is heard at the state
government level. Your financial commitment to a strong PAC helps make the
Ohio Contractors Association one of the most effective associations in the
state.
If you haven’t already contributed to the Ohio Contractors PAC this year,
please call the OCA office today at 800.229.1388 or go to our website to
make a contribution on your credit card. You may also contribute by check.
Please note that state law requires all contributions to be personal – not
corporate.
OCA’S LRD Successfully
Negotiates 5 Union Contract Renewals
OCA’s Labor Relations Division
(LRD) recently completed successful negotiations with the Carpenters,
Cement Masons, Laborers, Teamsters (Statewide) and Teamsters (Local 436 in
Cleveland) to renew our Heavy, Highway construction agreements.
A summary of the new economic packages and changes in contract conditions
is available by clicking here.
OCA extends a huge thank you and congratulations to the members of its
Labor Executive Committee (LEC) and LRD negotiating committees, who worked
tirelessly to bring this year’s negotiations to a successful conclusion.
As soon as all agreements are formally ratified, work will begin to update
print versions of the new agreements. OCA’s Labor Relations staff is
currently hard at work compiling an updated Wage & Benefit Bulletin
reflective of the new agreements. It will be posted on OCA’s website as
soon as it is completed.
If you have any questions about the new union agreements or the updated
wage and benefit schedules, please contact Emily Pickens, or Mark Potnick
in the OCA office.
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