Michael Whitten of Peytona retired as an Operating Engineer with Local 132. Whitten said he was there in support of his brother.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill that changes prevailing wage in West Virginia is on its way to the full House of Delegates.
The House Government Organization Committee on Wednesday voted 17-8 with only one Democrat voting yes to report the bill to the floor. Senate Bill 361 seeks to modify how prevailing wage rates are calculated, calling on WorkForce West Virginia to work with economic research bureaus from West Virginia University and Marshall University to determine a methodology for determining the new rate. A committee substitute for the bill gives the team a July 1 deadline to establish that criteria, but some on the committee argued that’s just not enough time.
“I was an economics major. There’s a lot that goes into this, a lot of considerations,” Delegate Justin Marcum, D-Mingo, said. “To put a deadline that I look at as pretty radical, pretty quick, will make it almost impossible to do this data collection and determine the matrix they want to use.
“I don’t see any practical way we can have the rates set by July 1 with everything that has to go into this…
