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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T



SPONSOR: Bailey DATE TYPED: 03/12/01 HB
SHORT TITLE: Amend Public Works Minimum Wage Act SB 653/aSPAC
ANALYST: Taylor


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY01 FY02 FY01 FY02
NFI



Relates to HB 558-Repeal Public Works Minimum Wage Act; Original bill duplicated HB584.



SOURCES OF INFORMATION



New Mexico Labor Department

General Services Department (GSD)



SUMMARY



Synopsis of SPAC Amendment



The SPAC amendments reduces the scope of the minimum wage act exclusion provided to local school districts. The exclusion would apply only to contracts or projects costing one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or less.



Synopsis of Bill



Senate Bill 653 amends the Public Works Minimum Wage Act by excluding from its provisions local school districts, local school boards, post-secondary educational institutions and the governing boards of post-secondary institutions.



The Public Works Minimum Wage Act requires all construction contracts in excess of $20,000 to which the state or any of its political subdivisions is a party to pay laborers and mechanics the prevailing wage received by similar classes of labor in the state or locality.



Significant Issues



The Labor Department reports that educational projects account for about 15 percent of total public works construction dollars.



FISCAL IMPLICATIONS



There is no direct fiscal impact. The General Services Department reported another bill to eliminate the prevailing wage requirement would reduce construction costs by about 10 percent. No documentation as to how this would be achieved was provided, however.





ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS



The Labor Department reports that passage of this bill would reduce the Labor and Industrial Division's workload. However, they say that the number of employees would not be reduced.



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