Council discusses "Public Dollars for Public Benefit" ordinance that would require priority-hire and apprenticeship targets on large city construction projects

The Spokane City Council's Finance and Administration Committee heard extended testimony and debate on a proposed "Public Dollars for Public Benefit" ordinance that would require community workforce agreements and priority-hire rules on certain large public construction projects.

Councilmember Dylan (presenting the draft) said the ordinance would target projects of $5,000,000 or more and set priorities for hiring workers from designated economically distressed ZIP codes. The draft includes a minimum requirement that 20% of priority-hire labor hours in each trade be performed by a combination of preferred entry and priority-hire candidates. "There's a mention of the 20% number," the councilmember said while outlining the draft.

Multiple public speakers described the ordinance as a pathway to training and career opportunities. Tony Edwards of Spokane Carpenters Local 59 and other trade apprentices testified in favor, describing apprenticeships as transformative. Ozell Wilkins, an Ironworkers Local 14 apprentice, described his experience moving from homelessness to stable employment after joining an apprenticeship program and urged support for the ordinance.

Contractors and construction industry representatives raised concerns about process and timing. Cheryl Stewart, executive director of the Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors, said local contractors were not sufficiently included in drafting and that the rule could exclude apprentices from local pre-apprenticeship programs because some programs lack sponsorship by a training agent. "At the very least, this part needs to be phased in," Stewart said, adding concern about meeting rigid workforce percentage requirements and the effect on small firms.

A consultant who advised the council, Daniel Vallejo of Intelligent Partnerships, said administrative reporting processes for community workforce agreements generally add minimal direct cost and that typical administrative overhead is often under 1% of project cost in his experience. "Most of your engineer estimates already have 3 to 6% in project management assigned to it; in our history over a decade, it's less than 1% that it costs," he said.

Councilmembers asked for supporting data and raised fiscal and implementation questions. One councilmember asked to see evidence that the ordinance would not raise project costs, and another said childcare and other new benefits could increase costs. The presentation noted the city intends to provide a program evaluation and a dashboard and proposed a soft on-ramp that would make some dashboard metrics available in 2028 to allow phased implementation and to address staff capacity issues.

The draft identifies economically distressed ZIP codes targeted for priority hire as 99201, 99202, 99204, 99207 and 99205. The committee scheduled follow-up stakeholder meetings and said additional outreach to labor, contractors and community groups would occur before further council action.