Pennsylvania State Sen. Devlin Robinson (R-Bridgeville) held a hearing recently to discuss his legislation to require contractors on public works projects to hire local labor.
Robinson, chair of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee, heard testimony from representatives of the local building trades, local and statewide contractor associations, local economic development organizations, and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
Modeled after legislation in West Virginia, Montana and Illinois, Robinson’s legislation, Senate Bill 1076, requires contractors for state and local projects exceeding $500,000 must ensure that at least half of the workers are residents of Pennsylvania or a neighboring county. If a contractor is unable to fulfill that obligation, even after using a local PA CareerLink office for recruitment, the legislation outlines a waiver process. Once the waiver is granted, however, the contractor would be required to contribute to a fund to support training Pennsylvania workers in the construction trades.
“Pennsylvania tax dollars should be used to support local workers,” Robinson said. “This initiative seeks to strengthen our workforce, keep jobs local, and promote cost containment and efficiency on taxpayer-funded projects by reducing the need for out-of-state workers to travel to Pennsylvania and be temporarily housed near the project site.”
Witnesses said Robinson’s legislation would help address the skilled trade shortage in the state and ensure that only highly trained laborers are building Pennsylvania infrastructure, and that it would also save taxpayer dollars, strengthen the pipeline from apprenticeship to skilled trade and promote construction industry accountability.
“I can tell you about Trade Institute of Pittsburgh graduates who live just blocks away from large, publicly funded construction projects. They can see the cranes, they can hear the machinery, they know the work is happening in their communities – but they’re not on those jobsites,” Donta Green with the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh said. “Not because they aren’t qualified, not because they aren’t trained, but because there’s no requirement to hire local first.”