Associated Press Published

Governor Says a Lot of Misunderstandings in Prevailing Wage Fight

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Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says there are “a lot of misunderstandings” in his administration’s ongoing fight with Republican lawmakers over the prevailing wage for public construction projects.

The Democrat told reporters Thursday he doesn’t believe WorkForce West Virginia tried to hide information from lawmakers in a recent records request.

On Tuesday, Legislative Auditor Aaron Allred’s staff said WorkForce did not initially give lawmakers some records about how to recalculate the prevailing wage. More files were produced after a subpoena by lawmakers.

Lawmakers say one was an exchange with a construction union official criticizing the use of federal data.

Republicans say the data should be the basis for recalculating the wage as a new law requires. They criticize WorkForce’s plan to use a survey of wages, in addition to the data.