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Supporters urge Maryland to create public databases to track prevailing-wage payrolls and registered apprenticeships
Summary
Labor and contractor witnesses urged the House Health & Government Operations Committee to approve legislation requiring weekly contractor payroll reports and a public dashboard of prevailing-wage and registered-apprenticeship data to curb wage theft and improve apprenticeship completion.
Witnesses urged the Health & Government Operations Committee to support the Maryland Apprenticeship and Prevailing Wage Transparency Act (House Bill 850), which would require contractors on public-works projects to submit weekly payroll and workforce data to the Department of Labor and would direct the department to publish a public dashboard showing workers and wages on ongoing public works contracts.
Organizers and labor representatives testified that states with similar systems have seen measurable improvements: New York’s prevailing-wage/payroll transparency and Nevada’s apprenticeship tracking have been cited as increasing registered apprenticeship program completion, reducing misclassification and recovering unpaid wages and payroll taxes. Roger Manno and leaders of the Mid-Atlantic Pipe Trades described cases of misclassification, wage theft and unpaid payroll liabilities they said persist in the region; they urged stronger transparency and enforcement tools. Union witnesses emphasized that a public certified-apprenticeship registry would let the state and contractors verify whether a worker is enrolled in a registered apprenticeship, not merely holding a card or credential.
Department of Labor staff had told the committee in a letter that the agency currently lacks the technological platform to implement the weekly-reporting and public dashboard as written and that building a production-ready system could require a multi-million-dollar IT project. Proponents said they are exploring ways to use an existing or planned statewide data platform to limit new costs; they urged the committee to consider ways to finance the build without undermining the bill’s goals.
The hearing featured testimony from construction contractors, trade unions and the state AFL-CIO, which emphasized the workforce-development benefits of visibility into apprenticeship and payroll data. No committee vote was taken; sponsors and proponents said they will continue discussions with Department of Labor IT staff about possible technical approaches and cost-sharing options.
