Ohio cities could stop paying prevailing wage to construction workers under proposed bill

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Local governments could opt out of paying Ohio's prevailing wage on public construction projects under a new proposal from state Sen. Matt Huffman.

State law requires counties, cities, villages and townships to pay minimum wages and benefits, called prevailing wages, to construction workers on projects exceeding a certain cost.

Huffman, a Lima Republican, said the prevailing wage is higher than the market rate in many parts of the state, especially rural areas. If local governments could pay the market rate, Huffman said, they would save money.

"Each of the local jurisdictions should be able to decide what they pay for what they're going to get," Huffman said in an interview. "When the city of Lima goes to buy paper products, they don't have to pay what the city of Cincinnati pays. They pay what the market bears."

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/02/ohio_prevailing_wage_law_would.html