STAND. COM. REP. NO.  355

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

RE:   H.B. No. 826

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 826 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC WORKS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to:

(1)  Establish requirements for contractors who bid on public work projects;

(2)  Require contractors bidding on a public work to maintain an apprenticeship program;

(3)  Require that no less than fifteen per cent of labor hours on a public work project costing one million dollars or more be performed by individuals enrolled in an apprenticeship program; and

(4)  Establishing penalties for a violation of the established requirements.

     The Ironworkers Stabilization Fund Local 625 testified in support of this bill.  The Hawaii Carpenters Union supported the intent of this measure.  The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) did not support this bill.

     According to DLIR, no restrictions currently exist on the eligibility of individuals to work on a public works project and bidders on a public works are not required to have established apprenticeship programs as part of their eligibility.  As such, the possibility exists for unscrupulous bidders and contractors to manipulate the system.  Your Committee finds that establishing requirements for contractors who bid on state construction projects will place all contractors on a level playing field.   

     Your Committee also notes that by establishing apprenticeship program requirements and requirements for the use of apprentices on a public work project, a skilled construction workforce can be maintained for years to come.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Specifying that DLIR shall order the governmental contracting agency to permanently remove the party or contractor from any further work on a public work if compliance with the established requirements is not obtained within 20 days after a notification of non-compliance; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 826, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 826, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair