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The Missouri senate has passed legislation that is changing how the minimum wage required for public construction projects is calculated for rural counties.   Currently their projects are being calculated based on volunteer surveys collected and submitted by contractors on public work projects.  With this bill passing it allows the wage survey to be split between union and non-union wages. Therefore the wages would be set by either Union or Non Union, and more hours of work will be reported.  If there were no reports for a current year, the wage would be set by an average of reports from the last six years. Below is a study of projects with prevailing wage vs. projects with out prevailing wage costs.

Studies show that non-prevailing wage states have many additional costs, see below:

• An increase in change orders on construction projects
• Higher maintenance and long-term costs of the project
• Workers’ compensation insurance premiums go unpaid

Increased medical/insurance costs due to higher injury and death rates Overwhelmingly, objective research has demonstrated that states with prevailing wage laws are:

• reducing occupational injury
• increasing the pool of skilled workers
• building better facilities
• reducing long-term maintenance costs
• increasing state revenues with a better-employed and more highly skilled workforce

This new prevailing wage law HB34 will allow the requirement that prevailing wages, (or the average locally-paid trade/craft wages and benefits,) be paid to persons employed on public works projects.  This Act will promote fair wages to employees and dissuaded migratory hiring.  These benefits are still seen today.