Offsite Fabrication Mandates (S.6333/A.8177) | 2019

June 10th, 2019

AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to  inclusion of certain off-site custom fabrication as  public work for the purposes of payment of prevailing wage

S.6333 (Savino) / A.8177 (Abbate)

MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION

Unshackle Upstate, a non-partisan, pro-taxpayer, pro-economic growth, education and advocacy coalition made up of business and trade organizations from all parts of Upstate New York opposes this legislation.

This legislation amends section 220 of the labor law to mandate that all off-site custom fabrication be defined as public work and require those projects be compensated at the prevailing wage rate. Such work would include off-site fabrication and design of woodwork, cabinets, electrical, HVAC,  and other work related to the construction, repair or renovation of a building which is the subject of a contract which the state, a municipal corporation, a public benefit corporation or a commission appointed pursuant to law is a party, and to any third party acting on behalf of a public entity.

This legislation would significantly increase the cost of construction for any project affected by this requirement. Despite the bill sponsors claim that there is no fiscal impact, this legislation would amount to a new unfunded mandate for all construction projects administered by the state or municipality, who would now be required to pay far more for any off-site materials necessary for a project.

This legislation would also be extremely difficult, if not impossible to administer. A product may be manufactured well before a business may know which project their product may be used for. How would a manufacture determine when they would be required to pay prevailing wage when manufacturing a product that has not yet been purchased? The confusion generated by this policy would put manufacturers and end users in a difficult position as to whether they paid the appropriate wage.

Unshackle Upstate has consistently advocated for policies that will make New York a better place to do business. This policy creates new costly mandates that are difficult to comply with. If enacted, this legislation would certainly make New York less competitive and result in less construction and a loss of jobs.

For these reasons Unshackle Upstate opposes the enactment of this legislation.