Washington County Supervisor Wesley Rich of Kalona organized a meeting between Representative Larry Marek, area contractors, and county residents, Saturday morning in Kalona, to discuss House Study Bill (HSB) 149. Approximately 20 people were in the audience including Washington County Supervisor Adam Mangold and former House District 89 Representative Sandy Greiner, Republican, of Keota.
      According to the Iowa General Assembly's Web site, HSB 149 would require contractors and subcontractors who work on public improvements to pay wages and fringe benefits that have been established by collective bargaining agreements. The legislation is called the Public Improvement Quality Protection Act.
      Democrat Marek of Washington is serving his first term as the representative Iowa House District 89. He was elected in November 2008.
      On Saturday morning, Marek said he does not support HSF 149. He said it would increase property taxes.
      "I don't want to see property taxes go up," Marek said.
      He also said that his votes in the Iowa House would reflect the wishes of the majority of his constituents.
      Marek said he is "pretty conservative" on labor issues.
      According to HSB 149, the proposed prevailing wage bill would affect state projects with a price tag of $100,000 or more and school district projects of $300,000 or more. Counties with a population of more than 40,000 and cities with a population of more than 20,000 would also be required to adhere to the prevailing wage bill. However, the legislation also requires prevailing wages for public projects costing $1 million or more.
      Rich told the group that even though he has been a county supervisor for just a few weeks, he has worked with two labor unions that represent some county employees. He said that the prevailing wage legislation would increase the cost of public projects.
      Rich asked Marek to "take this message to your colleagues" and "to go down swinging" if the House votes in favor of the bill.
      The bill also states, "It is in the public interest that public improvements are completed by the best means and highest quality labor reasonably available."
      Dana Patterson of DeLong Construction in Washington told Marek that she is a nonunion contractor. She invited him to come to any DeLong Construction work site to judge the quality of the work being performed. She also said that the legislation doesn't guarantee the quality of work done.
      When asked to take a public stand against the bill, Marek said, "We're on the same page."
      
For the full story, see the Feb. 16 edition of The Washington Evening Journal