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Read. Follow. Verify.Pennsylvania Bill 161 Exempts School Safety Projects from Prevailing Wage Requirements
Last action · January 16, 2025: Referred to LABOR AND INDUSTRY, Jan. 16, 2025Sponsors: Barb Gleim and 6 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Pennsylvania House Bill 161 amends the state Act to exclude school safety and security improvements from the definition of "," exempting those projects from prevailing wage mandates. The exemption applies to construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration, or repair work recommended by safety assessments, funded by specific school safety provisions, or identified by the school safety committee. The act takes effect in 60 days.
Changes labor and contracting cost standards for public school construction by removing wage mandates on qualifying safety enhancement projects funded or identified through state education programs.
- The Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act requires contractors and subcontractors building public works to pay their workers prevailing minimum wage rates. context
- House Bill 161 was introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and referred to the Committee on Labor and Industry. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
School districts
School districts undertake construction or repair work for safety improvements that will now be exempt from prevailing wage requirements.
Construction workers on school projects
Key Facts
- Excludes school safety and security improvements from the definition of "public work" under the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act.
- Defines school safety and security improvements as work recommended or identified by a school safety and security assessment under Article XIII-B of the Public School Code of 1949.
- Includes work paid for in whole or in part from money provided under section 1306-B of the Public School Code of 1949 in the definition of school safety and security improvements.
- Includes work identified in criteria developed by the school safety and security committee under section 1303-B of the Public School Code of 1949.
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- Maintains the general threshold that public work under contract paid out of public funds exceeding $25,000 is subject to prevailing wage requirements, subject to the new exclusions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What qualifies as a school safety and security improvement under this bill?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Jan 16, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to LABOR AND INDUSTRY, Jan. 16, 2025
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Integration with the Public School Code of 1949
The bill explicitly cross-references multiple sections (Article XIII-B, Section 1306-B, and Section 1303-B) of the Public School Code of 1949 to establish its definitions.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.palegis.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance50How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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