Prevailing Wage Changes
By John Forester(Don't Use) | July 21, 2011
Several SAA members have inquired recently about changes made to the prevailing wage project threshold in the 2011-13 State Budget, and how these changes impact school district building projects.
You may recall that the SAA supported changing the threshold below which the state prevailing wage would not apply for school public works from the current $25,000 to $250,000.
The budget bill signed by Governor Walker on June 26th specifies school project thresholds of:
- $48,000 for single-trade projects, and
- $100,000 for multiple-trade projects.
A “single-trade project” is a project in which a single trade accounts for 85% or more of the total labor cost of the project. A “multiple-trade project” then is a project in which no single trade accounts for 85% of the total labor cost.
If the above threshold amounts look rather “curious”, it becomes more so when you consider that the project threshold for towns and some villages was set at $234,000. Calling this “messed up” is an understatement. It’s yet another manifestation of a legislative session dominated by big money and an absence of SHAME!
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2011-12 Maximum Base Wage Increase
By John Forester(Don't Use) | July 21, 2011
Peter Davis of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) says that the Commission is working on rules for calculating the maximum base wage increase. Those rules should help clarify the definition of base wages. Peter’s unofficial estimate of the CPI based maximum wage increase in 2011-12 is 1.63%. Peter expects the rules to be published in August or September. He said the rulemaking process is complicated and lengthened by the governor’s office review.
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Telcos Plan to Sue WiscNet
By John Forester(Don't Use) | July 21, 2011
A group of small telephone companies plan to sue to stop the UW System from providing telecommunication services in Superior, Platteville, Wausau and Chippewa Falls.
The Joint Finance Committee inserted a provision in the state budget that would have ended the WiscNet program, under which the UW System has extended broadband service to various parts of the state. But the provision was rolled back in the final budget to delay that by two years.
The private sector has complained the state encroaches on its territory through the program and that it is illegal.
See the release.
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Unemployment Compensation Special Assessment
By John Forester(Don't Use) | July 19, 2011
Several SAA members have raised questions regarding the unemployment compensation special assessment notice you all received recently from the Department of Workforce Development (DWD).
Given that school districts pay for unemployment compensation claims on a pay-as-you-go reimbursement basis, SAA members questioned whether school districts should be on the hook for this interest payment. Upon investigation, we discovered that DWD is proceeding according to the letter of the statute as it was adopted in 1983. Inequitable as it seems, it appears that we are indeed on the hook for this payment. Upon hearing the news, one SAA member responded, “So, school districts are subsidizing private sector employers.” It appears so.
The SAA will continue to explore policy changes to remove or soften the impact of this inequity in the system.
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DPI Releases Budget Summary
By John Forester(Don't Use) | July 6, 2011
The Department of Public Instruction has completed it’s summary of the 2011-13 biennial budget, 2011 Act 32.
You can find it linked here.
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