Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Prevailing Wage Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Labor panel advances bill extending prevailing-wage disqualification to cooperatives
Summary
The Assembly Labor Committee released A4194/S3041 with amendments to apply a three-year bar on public-works contracts to cooperatives that include an approved vendor who failed to pay required prevailing wages; the bill adds procurement and compliance requirements for cooperative purchasing agreements.
The Assembly Labor Committee voted to release Assembly Bill 4194 and its Senate counterpart S3041 with committee amendments after a committee reading in early 2025. The measure would apply the current three-year prohibition on receiving public-works contracts — imposed on contractors or subcontractors who fail to pay required prevailing wages — to any cooperative in which at least one cooperative-approved vendor has failed to pay prevailing wages.
The bill defines “cooperative” as a system of collective ownership in which shareholders or co-owners hold a long-term proprietary interest or long-term control arrangements over operations. Committee amendments clarify that the prohibition applies when a cooperative’s approved vendor, not merely any member of the cooperative, has failed to pay prevailing wages.
Supporters and the bill text say the measure would also: require a contracting unit that awards a cooperative contract for public-works construction to verify and keep contractor contact information; require contracting units that establish cooperative purchasing agreements for public-works construction to submit and retain certified payroll records for every project for at least three years; require public posting of cost and compliance information for projects completed in the previous month; prohibit the use of time-and-materials contracts available through a cooperative purchasing agreement for public-works construction subject to the prevailing-wage law; and require monthly checks against the Department of Labor and Workforce Development debarment list, with termination of any project or subcontract when a newly debarred party is identified.
Committee members voted to release the bill with amendments. The motion to release A4194 and S3041 (first reprint) carried by recorded voice votes from committee members present.
The bill further states that public-works projects undertaken through cooperative purchasing agreements would be subject to the Public Works Contractor Registration Act and the New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act, and makes other technical and conforming changes included in the committee amendments.
The committee did not take testimony on this item beyond the bill reading. Staff reading and the text of the committee amendments provided the details summarized above.
The measure will next go through the normal floor and second-house processes.
