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Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry has passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

House Bill Would Eliminate Common Construction Wage

Leaders from Indiana’s construction industry spent more than four hours Tuesday debating a bill that would eliminate the state’s common construction wage.

The common construction wage is a sort of minimum wage for public construction projects.  It’s set for each individual project by a local wage board. 

Carmel Republican Representative Jerry Torr’s bill would end the 80-year-old system.  He says the common construction wage inhibits competition and artificially inflates wages. 

Torr says ending the common wage could generate savings of 10-20 percent on public construction projects. 

Fort Wayne City Councilman Russ Jehl says those savings would be critical.

“The only thing that limits the quantity of work that we do are the funds to do so,” Jehl said. “As a result, without common wage, more roads will get fixed, more work will get done, and more workers will be employed to do more work.”

But opponents of the bill say the common construction wage provides middle class Hoosiers a living wage while ensuring a higher level of quality, training, and safety.

The committee approved the bill eight to four, along party lines.  The measure now heads to the full House.  

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.