In the near future, I will be introducing legislation to help our school districts stretch the dollars they spend on construction related to school safety and security.

The General Assembly enacted Act 44 of 2018 to identify a range of improvements and best practices for school districts with regard to safety and security. The new law will help our schools by providing assessments and grant funding to improve school safety and security and better protect our children and grandchildren while they learn.

Some of the recommended improvements may be physical or structural improvements designed to enhance safety and security, which would require construction work to implement. Studies have found that the application of Pennsylvania’s Prevailing Wage Law increases the cost of school construction by between 10-17%, so my legislation would exempt these vital school safety and security improvements from the requirements of the Prevailing Wage Law.

Specifically, my bill would exempt any type of construction that:

• Is identified or recommended by a school safety and security assessment;
• Is funded with any funds from the School Safety and Security Grant Program; or
• Is identified in the criteria developed by the School Safety and Security Committee.

I believe that this legislation will build on the progress we made by allowing school districts to maximize their limited dollars when they act to protect Pennsylvania students. I hope you will join me as a cosponsor.

Previous cosponsors of HB 203 (2023-2024): STRUZZI, HAMM, KAUFFMAN, ROWE, KEEFER, ZIMMERMAN, T. JONES, GILLEN, AND ECKER
 

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 0119: P.L.987, No.442