As session gets underway, policymakers need to take notice of the recent study, which identified New York as being dead last in the country for creating a pro-construction environment. The study made it quite clear why New York is last and what it needs to do in order to improve its ranking.
Our chief concern continues to be the utilization of Project Labor Agreements and the application of prevailing wages to private work. Both items do nothing more than steer contracts to preferred constituents and make New York less affordable for all of us. Further, New York continues to be the last state in the nation with the antiquated Scaffold Law and an overly generous and often fraudulent Workers Compensation program both of which blow up the cost of insurance. All of that added cost burden is transitioned to projects making them extremely unaffordable. It’s why the state continues to use a pothole approach to repairing our roads, bridges, sewers and other public infrastructure. It’s also a key driver in why we continue to slowly fix our energy grid and why vast areas of the state don’t have access to broadband.
The good news is there is a solution. The Legislature can begin to fix the problem by ending their use of harmful mandates that drive up the cost of construction. Doing so will start to address New York’s affordability crisis and improve the quality of life for all of us.
Brian Sampson, President
Empire State Chapter of the
Associated Builders & Contractors
