Public works: prevailing wages: access to records.

Petrie-Norris advances a measure that would require private owners or developers undertaking any prevailing-wage work on public projects to make a defined set of records available on request to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, multiemployer Taft-Hartley trust funds, and joint labor-management committees. The scope targets private entities that enter into contracts for work first advertised for bid, or that execute a contract on or after January 1, 2026, and would apply to records kept in connection with the prevailing-wage requirements for those projects. The core aim is to provide access to detailed project data, including bidding materials and payroll information, to verify compliance through specified channels.

The bill enumerates the records that may be requested: the initial request for bids, the lists of bids received with total bid amounts, the final executed contracts between the direct contractor and the owner or developer showing contract compliance, the names and license numbers of contractors and subcontractors, a certified copy of payroll records if in the owner’s or developer’s possession, and, where applicable, monthly reports tied to a skilled-and-trained workforce commitment. It directs that these records be available to the division, trust funds, and joint labor-management committees and allows redaction only to prevent disclosure of an individual’s social security number. Pricing information and other confidential contract details may be redacted if not public, but the names, scope of work, and wage-related contractual requirements may not be redacted. The bill also requires reasonable cooperation to identify responsive records.

Procedural mechanics specify a 30-calendar-day window to comply after a written request, with written extensions by agreement. If a multiemployer trust fund or a joint labor-management committee identifies a failure to comply and submits a complaint, the division would issue a new written request; if noncompliance persists for 10 days after that, penalties would apply until strict compliance is achieved for the specified records, with distinct per-worker daily penalties assigned to payroll records and to the other listed records. Penalties for payroll data are set at a lower rate than those for the remaining records, and funds collected would be deposited into a dedicated State Public Works Enforcement Fund. The measure also provides that the director would adopt implementing rules consistent with the Public Records Act and the Information Practices Act, including fee structures, and would define an “owner or developer” to exclude the state and political subdivisions.

The broader policy context includes a clear framework for enforcement and confidentiality: records held by funds and committees must be kept confidential, but may be shared with the division or awarding agencies to demonstrate violations. A three-year statute of limitations governs when record requests may be made, and the rulemaking process is placed under the purview of the Director of Industrial Relations. The bill interacts with existing prevailing-wage and payroll-record requirements by extending access to a broader set of project documents and establishing a structured penalties regime tied to noncompliance, while preserving privacy protections for individuals and sensitive contract information. Overall, implementation will hinge on forthcoming regulations, the volume of eligible projects, and how penalties are collected and allocated within the enforcement framework.