Prevailing Sense
Some City Council Members in Annapolis actually want to evaluate a program before expanding it.
It’s not often that a body completely of only Democrats shows a bit of fiscal sense. But the Annapolis City Council just did this week
The Annapolis City Council voted down a measure Monday night that would have required the city to award major construction projects to firms that hire a majority of union workers.
The proposed ordinance, known as a prevailing wage law, failed along a 5-4 vote, and highlighted disagreement among the all-Democratic council members, even when it comes to supporting traditional Democratic causes like supporting labor unions.
The prevailing wage of course would have forced contractors working with the City of Annapolis to pay higher than normal wages, artificially inflating the cost of doing business with the City.
And yet, contrary to most of what happens with Democrats in Maryland, a majority of Democrats on the title stood astride the tide and said “no”:
Ward 7 Alderman Rob Savidge led the way in opposing the measure, quoting statistics from the Mackinac Center, a free-market think tank in Michigan. Savidge strongly argued that passing a prevailing wage law could raise costs of upcoming capital projects.
“We have a big unknown as far as how much this would cost the city,” Savidge said. “I don’t think the risk is worth it.”
I was as shocked as you are to learn that a City Councilman in Annapolis actually used the free market as a justification for not giving a handout to the unions that control the Maryland Democratic Party.
No, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows:
Other council members who voted against the ordinance said they would be open to adopting a prevailing wage law but preferred to wait and see how an Anne Arundel County law, adopted in October 2021, would affect the county’s ability to attract construction bids. The county law requires a prevailing wage be paid to workers on county-financed construction contracts and also adds local hiring requirements.
But while I disagree with the artificial wage inflation created by prevailing wage laws, the “wait and see” approach by other members of the Council actually makes sense.
It is rare, particularly in Maryland, to wait and see how a program or funding is working before immediately demanding the program’s expansion. This is of course most prominent shown with the Kirwan Commission recommendations being railroaded through the General Assembly before anybody truly understood if the Thornton Commission recommendations were successful.
To see local elected officials actually wait and see how a program works before implementing or expanding a similar program deserves our applause, regardless of whether or not we agree with them on the fundamental issues.