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The 2019 Oregon Legislature is now in session, and lawmakers could consider a wealth of bills that would affect the construction industry.

From workforce development and the prevention of wage theft to prevailing wage requirements and a controversial gross receipts tax proposal, the issues that likely will come under debate are numerous and complex.

鈥淭here will be everything from taxation to the revenue tax that will touch all industries, not just ours, plus employment issues, paid family leave 鈥� we’ll have more than enough to pay attention to,鈥� said John Rakowitz, director of public and strategic affairs for the Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter. 鈥淏ut we’ll probably be focused on a number of different issues.鈥�

When it comes to priorities, both the AGC chapter and the Associated Builders and Contractors’ Pacific Northwest chapter will be focused on a handful of key topics. Those, Rakowitz said, include a proposed gross receipts tax on businesses, paid family leave legislation, bills that would redefine 鈥減ublic works鈥� projects to include some private-sector projects and much more.

鈥淚 think this session we’re really going to be looking at an issue that was brought up during the last session addressing construction wage theft,鈥� ABC lobbyist Shawn Miller said. 鈥淲e’re looking to address that in a constructive way without burdening our contractors with increased litigation.鈥�

One area of obvious interest will be House Bill 2408 and House Bill 2409, which would change the prevailing wage landscape.

HB 2408 would redefine 鈥渇unds of a public agency,鈥� for purposes of applying prevailing wage rates to public works projects, to include state tax credits or tax abatements connected with projects.

鈥淭hat will be a big issue for us this session,鈥� Miller said.

HB 2409 would require that the prevailing wage in a given locality be the same as that set forth in collective bargaining agreements for trade or occupation in that locality. That methodology would replace the old survey method, and, Rakowitz said, potentially cause upheaval.

鈥淭hat bill (2408) is an example of what we see as an expansion of what has never been public works in Oregon,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have no issue with the prevailing wage, but in our view it should only be required for true public works.鈥�

One example of how this could play out, Rakowitz added, would be in the state’s numerous enterprise zones, which provide property tax breaks for developers. But under HB 2408, prevailing wage requirements would likely apply to development in those zones.

鈥淭here’s little doubt that much of that construction would no longer occur if this law were to pass,鈥� he said.

Rakowitz expressed even more alarm on the potential disruptive nature of HB 2409.

鈥淵ou’re undermining the whole notion of what prevailing wage is about,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n a given locality that wage, because of surveys, it could be a collective bargaining wage or an open shop wage; it depends on that local construction market. We’ve only ever been able to sort through that with an annual survey with BOLI, so to simply declare it will be automatically a collective bargaining rate for a given craft is a substantial change from a way of doing business that Oregon has done for a very long time.鈥�

Another outsized issue for businesses in this session will be the so-called cap-and-trade bill expected to be introduced by legislators in coming weeks. Depending on the language used, it could be of greater or lesser concern to the construction industry, Rakowitz said. One sticking point, he said, is what to do with revenue raised from sales of carbon credits.

鈥淓xactly what those funds would be used for is unclear,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hose funds, by the Oregon Constitution, have to go into the highway trust fund. We’ll be watching closely so that the legislation in some way does not impact the constitutional requirement and uses of those funds, meaning they go into the highway trust fund and are spent on roads and bridges, city streets and county roads; that’s what the constitution requires. But we have not seen bill language yet, so we don’t know what’s being proposed.鈥�

A host of potential bills cover workforce development. These include Senate Bill 82, which would create a pass-through mechanism attached to federally funded highway projects to support pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship training programs, and Senate Bills 344 and 345, which would expand funding for the State Workforce and Talent Development Board.

House Bill 2551, meanwhile, would create one or more statewide pilot programs to provide training, job placement services, financial assistance, technical support and business creation assistance to veterans in construction and construction materials industries.

Revenue bills in the form of increased taxes also will be closely watched. These could take a number of different forms in the final legislation. The makeup of the Oregon House, with 38 Democrats and just 22 Republicans, also will play a role.

鈥淚t’s not just a supermajority,鈥� Rakowitz said. 鈥淭he revenue has to start in the House, and that number is 38. So there is a big shift there. And obviously there’s a lot of discussion about the number that is often mentioned 鈥� the $2 billion in new revenue, and that’s a really big number. That kind of number can impact the economy going forward, and what does that do to Oregon’s investment environment? So, yeah, we’re paying close attention to that.鈥�

Miller is too.

鈥淕enerally I think more so on the tax discussion,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here definitely is a desire for this Legislature and governor to get another two billion dollars, so definitely from the standpoint from their ability to raise revenue. But other than that we work with any and all legislators. We’re just going to go in and advocate for the industry and we’ll work with who’s there.鈥�

Rakowitz also noted that much of the legislation that will be considered will be introduced later in the session.

鈥淲e have about half the bills out there that we’re expecting,鈥� Rakowitz said. 鈥淲ho knows what else will show up in the coming days and months before June 30? We certainly will be all eyes and ears, and we believe there will be many more bills, or there could be many more bills, and in a session where it would appear anything and everything might be under discussion.鈥�