The following testimony was offered by me
today. Regrettably, I feel confident
that the Labor Committee will not approve this Bill. Susan Kniep, March
16, 2006
From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@ctact.org
860-524-6501
March 15, 2006
Page 1 of
2
Public Hearing
Prevailing Wage Thresholds
House Bill No. 5741
Sponsored by the State of Connecticut’s
Labor and Public Employees
Committee
THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2006, 9:00 AM,
Legislative Office Building, Room 2B, 300 Capitol Ave, Hartford,
CT
My name is Susan Kniep. I had served as the Mayor of East Hartford from 1989 to 1993. I had also served for several years on East Hartford’s Town Council. I am currently the President of The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
The legislature enacted the state's prevailing wage law in
1933. Today, the Prevailing Wage laws
are antiquated. The State Legislature’s failure to implement substantive changes to the Prevailing Wage
Laws are driving up property taxes which your constituents in your home
towns are being forced to pay. I ask that you support the prevailing wage
laws before you. I ask that you
recognize, however, that they offer very minimal relief for Connecticut taxpayers.
As you increase the threshold from $400,000 to $1 million
for new construction and from $100,000 to $500,000 for remodeling or repairs,
keep in mind that the majority of local government projects far exceed these
costs. Multi million dollar school and
road projects will continue to drive up local property taxes subject to
prevailing wage laws, which more appropriately should be classified as “union
negotiated wages”. These multi million dollar projects also
carry an added cost as they cannot be absorbed in local budgets. Instead they must be bonded, driving the
costs even higher when interest is factored in.
As you debate Connecticut’s
Prevailing Wage laws, factor into your discussion the following:
1. Your constituents
in your hometowns have to pay increased property taxes driven by the Prevailing
Wage Laws which you force upon municipalities.
2. The majority of
your constituents, your neighbors, your friends do not
have the benefit of prevailing wage laws or job protection or job security of
any kind.
3. Some of your
constituents have the capability to work on government funded construction
projects in your hometowns but are restricted under your prevailing wage laws
because they do not belong to a union.
4. The majority of
your constituents work at-will, in the private sector. They can be terminated at any time, have
their salaries cut, pay double for their health insurance premium, be forced to
take on their fellow co-workers job, or in a worse case scenario, see their job
shipped overseas. But they must pay
their property taxes or the government will take their homes.
5. The Federal
Government has suspended the Prevailing Wage laws when necessary such as in September 1992 by after hurricane Andrew to expedite the
construction efforts.
6.
Some states are considering limiting or suspending their
prevailing wage requirements to offset budgetary shortfalls.
7.
You have the power to abolish the Prevailing Laws in Connecticut and give
taxpayers property tax relief.
8.
If you suspend Prevailing Wage Laws on school projects, more
money will be left with Boards of Education to finance programs and books for
their students.
In November, those of you who will be seeking reelection
will be approaching voters in the towns in which you live and asking for their
vote. Concurrently you will be burdening
them with state mandates such as the Prevailing Wage Laws which are driving up
their property taxes. I hope you are honest with your constituents
and tell them of the State laws you have passed which are forcing them to pay
higher property taxes.
It is well known that legislators have acquiesced to the
unions with the anticipation of union support when seeking reelection. But I ask you, what happens when the voters
in your home towns who work at-will or are unprotected in their jobs, get
it. When they understand that you have
abandoned them for union support and have passed laws driving up their local
property taxes. Because
that day is here. As the news
reports informed us this week, there is a nationwide Taxpayer Revolt driven by
increased property taxes.
That revolt will be carried to the voting booth, if you, our
State legislators fail to rescue Connecticut's
taxpayers from the abyss of excessive taxation you have created over the past
20-30 years.