MADISON, Wis (WSAU-Wheeler News) The head of the Wisconsin Senate’s labor committee is forging ahead with a bill to repeal the state’s prevailing wage law — even though the Assembly does not have the votes to pass it. Whitewater Republican Steve Nass has scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday, and a committee vote for next Thursday on the measure. It would end the requirement that contracted employees for highway and other public works projects get the same wages as those for similar projects.
Nass said he was “dismayed” that the Assembly threw up the “white flag” on a repeal, even though it might save taxpayers $200-to-$300 million. The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance recently cited those numbers, and Nass said it’s time to “find out where the votes actually sit.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald was not pleased with the move. He said Republican senators have not discussed the issue, and an attempt toward repeal could make it harder to fine-tune the prevailing wage law — which G-O-P leaders of both houses have talked about.