Bulletins
The Senate approved legislation yesterday to transfer $8 billion to restore solvency to the federal Highway Trust Fund. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters had announced that federal-aid payments to the states would be withheld because of a shortage of funds. Current projections show that the federal Highway Trust Fund
As an advocate for safer work zones, MITA helped craft and introduce legislation cutting down on the number of construction zone signs and also giving flaggers legal authority to override a traffic control device. The bills were passed out of Senate Committee this week, thanks to testimony delivered by Mike
MITA was involved in a dispute with the Detroit Area Carpenters relative to the assignment of work on mechanically stabilized earth wall construction (MSE wall). It was the position of the Carpenters that such work fall within their jurisdiction and should therefore be assigned to Carpenters, rather than Laborers. The
The 2008 Wage Rates for Underground Construction, effective the first full payroll period on or after September 1, 2008 have been posted to the MITA website. Click here for 2008 Wage Rates. If you have any questions and/or concerns, please call the MITA office at (517) 347-8336.
MITA recently met with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG) to discuss ongoing state prevailing wage truck driver enforcement concerns. During the meeting, DLEG indicated that it was now their position that “owner-operators” would be covered under the Michigan Prevailing Wage Act when they are working on
It’s official. Gov. Granholm signed the MITA Materials Deduction Fix legislation into law. The bill was approved unanimously by both houses of the Legislature and is now Public Act 177 of 2008. MITA began working on the legislation (SB 1217) after it became evident that bureaucrats within the Department of
Over the course of the last several months, MITA has received a number of calls and inquiries concerning the industry’s position on price adjustment (escalator) provisions, particularly as it related to fuel. In response to those inquiries MITA held an open meeting in it’s Okemos office to hear and learn
MITA celebrated a major victory this week with passage of the critical MBT (Michigan Business Tax) materials deduction fix at 1am on Saturday morning—the last day of session before summer break. The MITA MBT fix was a major accomplishment because it was the only one allowed this year, despite many
Michigan employers employing 2 or more employees who are at least 16 years old are required to pay the Michigan minimum wage of $7.40 per hour beginning July 1, 2008. The Federal Minimum Wage is set to increase to $6.55 per hour July 24, 2008, but is less than the
After months of wrangling and debate, lawmakers have come to an agreement on water withdrawal legislation, quickly passing new water protection legislation and sending it to the governor. MITA has been tracking the legislation closely for the past year, ensuring there would not be any new regulations to hamper the
As you should be aware, effective with all projects starting with those let in the May 2, 2008, letting MDOT has implemented revised prevailing wage oversight procedures that define new roles and responsibilities for the engineer (owner representative) and the prime contractor. These roles and responsibilities are defined in the
Contractors would be paid by governmental units in a more timely manner, in legislation passing House Committee this week. The package of bills known as “prompt pay” legislation (HB 6173-6176) is a MITA initiative that has been in the works for two years. The legislation also cracks down on the
