Bill Text: NY A01915 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to requiring certain financially assisted development projects in a city with a population of one million or more to be subject to certain prevailing wage requirements.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-15 - enacting clause stricken [A01915 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A01915-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1915 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 17, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CRESPO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to requiring certain finan- cially assisted development projects in a city with a population of one million or more to be subject to certain prevailing wage require- ments The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 220 of the labor law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 10 to read as follows: 3 10. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this chapter or of 4 any other general, special or local law, ordinance, charter, administra- 5 tive code, or judicial decision to the contrary, construction work 6 performed by a covered developer on a financially assisted development 7 project shall be subject to this section with respect to laborers, work- 8 ers and mechanics covered under this section performing work on a 9 covered development project. 10 (a) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms 11 shall have the following meanings: 12 (i) "City" means a city with a population of one million or more. 13 (ii) "Financially assisted development project" means a project in a 14 city with a population of one million or more, undertaken, planned, 15 overseen, or financed by a public benefit corporation or local develop- 16 ment corporation as defined in subdivision eight of section eighteen 17 hundred one of the public authorities law or section fourteen hundred 18 eleven of the not-for-profit corporation law, or other economic develop- 19 ment entity that provides or administers economic development benefits, 20 or a third party on behalf of such economic development entity, for the 21 purpose of improvement or development and/or redevelopment of real prop- 22 erty, economic development, job retention or growth, or other similar EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07845-02-9A. 1915 2 1 purposes, and where the development project is not covered by a project 2 labor agreement and: 3 (1) is expected to be larger than one million square feet, or larger 4 than a total of three hundred residential units aggregated for the 5 entire development project; or 6 (2) has received or is expected to receive financial assistance from a 7 public entity valued at fifteen million dollars or more, aggregated from 8 all public sources; or 9 (3) is developed on, or will be situated, built, erected, or used on 10 property, owned, maintained, or leased by or to a public entity; or is 11 subject to a public entity's sale of air rights, or subject to public 12 entity planning and approval of construction contracts. 13 Provided however, financially assisted development projects shall not 14 include projects approved or managed under the urban development corpo- 15 ration act. 16 (iii) "Covered developer" means any person or entity receiving finan- 17 cial assistance in relation to a financially assisted development 18 project, or any person or entity that contracts or subcontracts with a 19 person or entity receiving financial assistance in relation to a finan- 20 cially assisted development project to perform construction work on the 21 financially assisted development project, or any assignee or successor 22 in interest of real property that qualifies as a financially assisted 23 development project. Covered developer excludes public entities. Covered 24 developer shall also not include any private not-for-profit corporation 25 for which bonds or notes are issued pursuant to titles four and/or 26 four-B of article eight of the public authorities law, or pursuant to 27 the New York state medical care facilities finance agency act. 28 (iv) "Financial assistance" is defined as: 29 (1) the payment of money, including the issuance of bonds, (excluding 30 such bonds or notes issued for the benefit of any private not-for-profit 31 corporation pursuant to titles four and/or four-B of article eight of 32 the public authorities law or bonds and notes issued pursuant to the New 33 York state medical care facilities finance agency act) and grants by a 34 public entity or a third party acting in place of, on behalf of and for 35 the benefit of such public entity, directly or indirectly to the devel- 36 oper of the development project, or on behalf of or for the benefit of 37 the developer; and/or 38 (2) performance or financing of construction work by any public entity 39 in furtherance of the development project, or for infrastructure 40 enhancements for the benefit of the development project, in any case for 41 which the state or city is primarily responsible for payment or repay- 42 ment; and/or 43 (3) fees, costs, rents, lease, insurance or bond premiums, loans, 44 interest rates on financings for which the state or city is primarily 45 responsible for repayment, taxes, or other obligations that would 46 normally be required in the execution of the project, attributable to 47 the development project and constituting a capital work or purpose as 48 defined in subparagraph four of section sixty-seven-a of the state 49 finance law, to the extent that such fees are paid, reduced, charged at 50 less than fair market value, waived, or forgiven by a public entity; 51 and/or 52 (4) money loaned by a public entity that is to be repaid on a contin- 53 gent basis. 54 (v) "Project labor agreement" means a pre-hire collective bargaining 55 agreement between a covered developer and a labor organization that 56 represents the interests of all classifications of laborers, workers andA. 1915 3 1 mechanics as set forth in this section that establishes the terms and 2 conditions of employment for the development project. 3 (vi) "Public entity" means the state or a municipal corporation or 4 political subdivision or agency of either, a public benefit corporation, 5 public authority, economic development corporation, local development 6 corporation or commission, established pursuant to law. 7 (b) Prevailing wage in financially assisted development projects 8 required. (i) Covered developers shall be required to comply with this 9 section in all respects for all financially assisted development 10 projects, including, but not limited to: 11 (1) ensuring that all workers performing construction work on the 12 development project are paid no less than the prevailing wage; and 13 (2) ensuring that all contractors and subcontractors performing work 14 on the development project shall comply with this section; and 15 (3) each covered developer shall maintain original payroll records for 16 each covered worker reflecting the days and hours worked, and the wages 17 paid and benefits provided for such hours worked, and shall retain such 18 records for at least six years after the construction work is performed. 19 The covered developer may satisfy this requirement by obtaining copies 20 of records from the employer or employers of such covered workers. Fail- 21 ure to maintain such records as required shall create a rebuttable 22 presumption that the covered workers were not paid the wages and bene- 23 fits required under this section. Upon the request of the fiscal offi- 24 cer, the covered developer shall provide a certified original payroll 25 record. 26 (ii) A covered developer on a financially assisted project receiving 27 or expecting to receive financial assistance valued at less than fifteen 28 million dollars aggregated from all public sources, and a total of all 29 residential units of three hundred units or less, including affordable 30 and non-affordable units, may apply to the director of the division of 31 budget for an exemption from the requirements of this subdivision. 32 Covered development projects with a total of residential units over 33 three hundred are not eligible for an exemption. The director of the 34 division of budget may, upon consultation with the commissioner of 35 labor, take into consideration the nature and type of development, the 36 funding estimated for the project, the complexity of the work to be 37 performed, the existence of apprenticeship and/or safety training 38 programs in the area and their relation to the project, the size and 39 composition of the labor pool and unemployment rate in the area, and 40 other factors deemed relevant by the commissioner in determining the 41 application for an exemption. In the event the financial assistance 42 awarded the development project ultimately exceeds thirty million 43 dollars, the director of the division of budget may withdraw the 44 exemption for the remainder of the development project. 45 (iii) Any person claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this 46 section shall have a cause of action against the covered developer in 47 any court of competent jurisdiction for damages, including punitive 48 damages, and for injunctive relief and such other remedies as may be 49 appropriate. In an action brought by a covered worker, if the court 50 finds in favor of the covered worker, it shall award the covered worker, 51 in addition to other relief, his/her reasonable attorneys' fees and 52 costs. 53 (1) A civil action commenced under this section shall be commenced in 54 accordance with the civil practice law and rules.A. 1915 4 1 (2) No procedure or remedy set forth in this section is intended to be 2 exclusive or a prerequisite for asserting a claim for relief to enforce 3 any rights in a court of law. 4 (3) In the event that any requirement or provision of this section, or 5 its application to any person or circumstance, should be held invalid or 6 unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall 7 not invalidate or render unenforceable any other requirements or 8 provisions of this section, or the application of the requirement or 9 provision held unenforceable to any other person or circumstance. 10 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to finan- 11 cially assisted development projects funded on or after the effective 12 date of this act; and shall exclude such financially assisted projects 13 with contracts that have been previously awarded as of the effective 14 date of this act; and shall apply to the construction activities that 15 commence thirty days after the effective date of this act on existing 16 financially assisted development projects.
