Prevailing Wage Campaign Successfully Fundraising

Protecting Michigan Taxpayers, the group attempting to put a voter-initiated act to repeal prevailing wage before the legislature, has raised $1 million according to a campaign finance report. The effort has received the majority of these donations through the Michigan Freedom Fund, the Associated Builders and Contractors, and the Constitution Legal Rights Foundation.

The Michigan Freedom Fund, the group responsible for promoting right-to-work, has been the top donor with $360,000 in contributions and in-kind donations of staff time. The Associated Builders and Contractors, which is the non-union construction firm association, also had in-kind donations of staff time and donated $296,884. The Constitution Legal Rights Foundation, which is the national Associated Builders and Contractors legal branch, was responsible for $263,113. During the same period, which ran from April 21 to June 29, Protecting Michigan Taxpayers spent $341,750.

The effort to put a voter-initiated act before the legislature is important as Governor Snyder has vocally opposed the repeal of prevailing wage, a law which pays workers based on union-scale levels while working on state-funded construction projects. In order to bypass the Governor, the petition must receive 252,523 signatures from registered voters, and then it must be approved by the legislature within 40 days or face a vote on the November 2016 ballot.

Prevailing wage is an issue that has already been addressed by the Senate, through Senate Bill 1, SB 2, and SB 3, but the House has stated that they will wait until the petition drive has finished before moving toward any legislative solution. There is an organized effort to oppose the petition, which has launched a social media campaign to urge voters not to sign the petition.

posted by PAA Online , Friday, July 10, 2015 10:12 AM
LINK DIRECTLY TO THIS ARTICLE

This Week's Newsletter

Past Newsletters