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Show Letter Dear Editor, In 1933, the Utah Legislature Legis-lature enacted the prevailing wage rate, whlh required that all contractors pay the wage rate established by the State Industrial commission on Public Works jobs. The prevailing wage rate is substantially sub-stantially the union pay scale. In 1933 the law was designed to place money into a depressed economy, to increase in-crease wages, to get the economy moving. The law does the same today. But today, the economy is not depressed; inflation is the problem and the cost of government is too high. Repealing Re-pealing the prevailing wage rate law will allow the free enterprise system to establish estab-lish the wages of tradesmen at a substantial savings to the taxpayer. The prevailing pre-vailing wage rate is inflationary. in-flationary. Additionally, the prevailing wage rate discourages dis-courages non-union contractors con-tractors from bidding public pub-lic contracts; it encourages union contractors to bid public contracts. The effect is to force people looking for work to go to union contractors con-tractors the law is inconsistent in-consistent with Utah's Right to Work law. Both the House of Representatives Repres-entatives and theSenatehave passed House Bill No. 12, repealing the prevailing wage rate, but the governor has threatened to veto the bill. The repeal of the prevailing pre-vailing wage rate is supported support-ed by the Utah League of Cities and Towns, the Utah Association of Counties, the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Associated Associ-ated Builders and Contractors. Contract-ors. The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News have editorialized in favor of the repeal. The governor should sign H.B. 12 into law. Very truly yours, S. Garth Jones Utah State Representative. |