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Spota Bill Heading to Governor
7/26/2007

Last week, the Senate unanimously passed the Spota bill by a vote of 60-0.  In June, the Assembly passed the same bill by a vote of 139-2.  We encourage you to contact Governor Spitzer's office to encourage him to sign the legislation into law once it reaches his desk.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota is collaborating with and working closely with lawmakers, building trades representatives and construction industry officials to tighten loopholes in New York State's Labor Law.
Clarifying the responsibilities of contractors' and subcontractors to comply with the statute, tightening local government's record-keeping obligations and increasing penalties for offenders are some of the changes under
consideration. 

Specifically, the legislation provides provisions which:

* Treat the theft of prevailing wages from workers similarly to other thefts under the penal law.

* Require that certified payrolls be filed and that the willful failure to file them is a felony.

* Strengthen the responsibility of government agencies awarding contracts by requiring that an individual in each agency be designated to receive, collect and review certified payrolls and that, in the event an agency fails to designate such an individual, the buck stops at the desk of the chief policy-maker of the agency, establishing plain and unavoidable accountability.

* Require that when the spread between the low bidder and the second low bidder is 10% or more, or when the low bidder has been involved in a prior prevailing wage violation, the low bidder must submit a sworn statement and detailed cost estimate attesting to the fact that the prevailing wage law will be complied with, including a personal guarantee to make up any under-payments of prevailing wages and an agreement on cases where liability is determined to cover government investigative and enforcement costs and court and enforcement costs incurred by aggrieved workers and entities.

 - Click the link below for the full text of District Attorney Spota's Amendment Summary.

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