Assemblymember Harry Bronson (D-Rochester/Chili/Henrietta) announced that the Assembly has passed legislation, (A.5414) which he sponsored, that will prohibit any contractor who has been debarred from federal job sites for having disregarded obligations to employees under the Davis-Bacon Act shall also be debarred under the state law from bidding on or being awarded similar contracts on public work job sites paid for through state or local funding.

“When taxpayers enter into a contract for public works, they expect that the state is hiring an honest contractor,” continued Bronson. “This legislation serves the dual role of protecting workers by ensuring that they are paid for their work and that taxpayers know that their hard earned money is being used wisely.”

The bill, A.5414, will ensure that those contractors who are debarred on the federal level under the Davis-Bacon Act for wage payment violations, are unable to bid on state public work contracts; this legislation would close a loophole in the existing law. Under the current law, contractors who have been debarred from federal job sites are considered at the state level on equal footing with law-abiding contractors. This bill will remedy this gross inequity by granting reciprocity to debarments imposed by the federal government on contractors who have violated the Davis-Bacon Act. New York courts have long settled that the right to bid on a public work contract is not a property right. This privilege to bid must be subject to restrictions, one of which should be the ability of the bidder to comply with certain prevailing wage provisions.

“As chair of the Assembly commission on Skills Development and Career Education, I understand the importance of rewarding hard work with honest pay, said Assemblymember Harry Bronson. “I have spent most of my working career fighting for the working men and women of our state and the passage of my legislation will ensure that contractors who knowingly steal pay from their employees will be barred from continuing that despicable behavior.”

The legislation is on third reading in the Senate and is waiting for action in that house.