By Jacqueline Pitts, The Bottom Line
Gov. Matt Bevin discussed the impact of prevailing wage repeal during a ceremonial signing of the new law on Thursday. House Bill 3, the prevailing wage repeal bill, passed and became law in January.
“It is going to be transformative in terms of just the financial impact alone on the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Studies have been done, it’s estimated it is going to be somewhere between $125 million to $135 million a year in savings. That’s conservative,” Gov. Bevin said. “And that is assuming the same levels of spending in public projects that have been happening in previous years. As our state’s economy picks up and our state’s population expands, and those numbers of projects increase, that savings would actually be larger still.”
The governor thanked the work of many groups on this bill, including the Kentucky Chamber’s many years of vocal advocacy.
Rep. Adam Koenig, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said the bill has been one of the highlights of his professional career and expressed excitement for what it will mean to Kentucky. Koenig gave examples of projects in his district that will see huge benefits from the new law and said that will carry across the rest of the state as well.
“The savings to the taxpayer will be enormous year, after year, after year,” Koenig said.
House Speaker Pro Tem David Osborne said the state can expect to see the passage of more pro-business legislation in the years to come from the new Republican House Majority.
For more state government news go to the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s The Bottom Line blog.
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