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Rep. Lambert unveils Local Hire Transparency Act to track who works on large public projects
Summary
Rep. Lambert presented HB 374 to require an annual OMB/Department of Labor report compiling nine workforce data points for publicly funded projects $3 million and up; YWCA Delaware backed the bill as a tool for equity. The committee moved the bill but lacked a quorum and walked it.
Representative Stephanie Lambert presented House Bill 374, the Local Hire Transparency Act, to the House Labor Committee, saying the measure would require the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with the Department of Labor, to publish an annual report showing who works on large publicly funded construction projects.
"Here in Delaware, when there are large public works projects, the first thing we hear is jobs, jobs, jobs. But the question is how many of our Delaware residents are actually working on these jobs?" Lambert said. She described the report as a way to make that question answerable.
Lambert said the bill would collect nine data points — race, gender, veteran status, disability status, year of birth, ZIP code, craft or trade, hours worked per craft and union or nonunion status, plus whether a worker is enrolled in a training program — for public works projects with certified payrolls (projects of $3 million or more). She said most of those data are already collected on certified payroll and that the Department of Labor would compile them so contractors would not face a new burden.
"It's really just putting them all together in an annual report that can benefit us all," Lambert said, noting an existing pilot reporting mechanism used for schools that the bill would expand. She told the committee the fiscal note came in lower than expected — an estimated $20,000–$50,000 in the first year and no ongoing fiscal note — and said a tech update, including an automated export into spreadsheet format, would limit ongoing costs.
Rebecca Cotto, speaking on behalf of YWCA Delaware, urged the committee to back the bill and framed it as an equity measure. "By strengthening reporting requirements, this bill helps Delaware better understand who's benefiting from publicly funded projects and where gaps still exist," she said, calling the change "a matter of equity and economic opportunity."
Representative Kelvin Morrison asked how demographic data would be collected and whether some workers might decline to self‑report race or orientation; Lambert said the project would rely on certified payroll and existing onboarding documentation, and she indicated she was willing to consider additional details the committee raised about representation.
After public comment the committee recorded a motion and second to release HB 374, and a roll call recorded several "yes" votes. The chair concluded the panel was one vote short of the seven required to release the bill and said he would "walk the bill" to secure sufficient votes, so no formal release was recorded during the hearing.
The bill now will be relisted for a later vote when a quorum can be assured.
