LANSING — Today, the House of Representatives voted on a proposal to repeal the state’s prevailing wage law, which ensured that workers on state projects were paid a fair wage. The proposal passed by a vote of 56-53. In response, state Rep. Jewell Jones (D-Inkster) issued the following statement:
“The evidence from Wisconsin and Indiana is clear: all repealing prevailing wage does is slash paychecks for men and women in the skilled trades while saving taxpayers nothing. But the costs of repealing this law to states and working families are huge. When wages are cut, working families are forced to either move out of state — worsening our skilled labor shortage — or live paycheck-to-paycheck to try to make ends meet. That simply isn’t right. The men and women who put in a hard day’s work to build our state deserve a paycheck that allows them to take care of their family and save for a secure retirement. Repealing this law was irresponsible at best and immoral at worst. That’s not what the people of my district sent me here to do, so I stood with Michigan’s working families and voted no.”