LANSING – Business groups and some lawmakers expressed continued concern Thursday for a 12-bill package aimed at requiring, to the greatest extent possible, that companies receiving economic development incentives hire Michigan workers.

The ‘Hire Michigan First’ legislation, sponsored by House Democrats and before the House Commerce Committee, would put a “laser-like” focus on the state’s economic development incentives by making companies hire Michigan workers, said Rep. Fred Miller (D-Mount Clemens), a lead sponsor.

At the same time, he said there would still be flexibility in the bills for companies unable to find qualified Michigan residents to instead hire workers from somewhere else.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle raised concerns about wording in the bills related to undocumented workers. The legislation requires companies to submit in writing that they will not knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Rep. Arlan Meekhof (R-West Olive) said his local business owners have said they can’t authenticate the documents workers submit and wondered whether companies would be liable if those documents turn up to be fake. Miller said most companies know how to and are complying with federal law and that the legislation is simply intended to stomp out bad actors.

But Michigan lobbyists for the National Federation of Independent Businesses and Associated Builders and Contractors testified in opposition to the legislation because of its prevailing wage and union issues.

Chris Fisher, executive director of the builders and contractors group, said the legislation calls for state contract vendors to be debarred if they don’t pay their workers the prevailing wage, but the measure doesn’t distinguish between an employer who mistaking didn’t pay the wage and one that knowingly and repeatedly didn’t meet the wage requirement.

He also said the legislation affecting state contracts allows workers to be hired from outside of Michigan if it’s part of a collective bargaining agreement, while non-union companies working with the state have to meet a 100 percent Michigan worker mandate. Amanda Radaz, assistant state director for NFIB, said that provision amounts to discrimination on companies doing work with the state that are not unionized.

But officials representing unions said that clause is part of current law because some labor groups straddle state lines. Todd Tennis, representing IBEW and Utility Workers Union of America, said there are at least two local unions in Michigan where the members include people living in other states.

On the debarment issue, Tennis said the language could be clarified to only speak to serious violations of the prevailing wage law.

Also supporting the bills is the AFL-CIO and Michigan Laborers District Council.

The committee will take more testimony next week before voting on the bills, said chair Rep. Robert Jones (D-Kalamazoo).

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce did not testify, but indicated its opposition to the bills. The Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association indicated it is neutral on the bills.

The package includes HB 4083 , HB 4084 , HB 4085 , HB 4086 , HB 4087 , HB 4088 , HB 4089 , HB 4090 , HB 4091 , HB 4092 , HB 4093 and HB 4094 .

Most of the measures would go into effect on July 1, 2009 if signed into law. The legislation does not include clawback provisions, like it did last term, which would have forced a company to pay back its economic development incentives if it broke its agreement with the state to hire Michigan workers or to not hire undocumented workers.

On top of altering several statutes, the legislation states that, for incentives such as the Michigan Economic Growth Authority and Renaissance Zones, if all things are equal then an incentive would go to the company hiring the most Michigan workers.

The statutes affected by the bills are the Michigan Strategic Fund Act, Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act, Management and Budget Act, Michigan Renaissance Zone Act, Michigan Economic Growth Authority Act, Michigan Business Tax Act, Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act, Industrial Development Revenue Bond Act, Plant Rehabilitation and Industrial Development Districts Act and Transportation Economic Development Fund Law.

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