Joint Legislation and Labor Committee Meeting: Lessor Prevailing Wage Act (May 4, 2026)
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A joint meeting of the Westchester County Board of Legislators' Committees on Legislation and Labor was held on May 4, 2026, commencing at 1:12 PM and adjourning at 2:03 PM. The primary agenda item was ACT-2026-86, the Westchester County Lessor Prevailing Wage Act, which would require lessors of county-leased property (with lease terms of 10 years or more) to mandate that contractors and subcontractors pay prevailing wages for construction projects over $250,000. The committee also approved the minutes from the March 30, 2026 meeting. No public comments were heard.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approval (March 30, 2026): The minutes were approved unanimously by a roll call vote of Legislators Puja, Clements, Nolan, Tubiolo, Ulaj, and Gashi (all present).
Discussion Items
- ACT-2026-86 – Westchester County Lessor Prevailing Wage Act: (Note: The transcript references item number 2026-18, but the official minutes list ACT-2026-86; this appears to be the same item.) The Law Department representatives, Chief Deputy County Attorney Stacey Dolgin-Kmetz and Senior Assistant Shawna MacLeod, presented the act. The act defines "prevailing rate of wage" as equivalent to New York Labor Law §220, regardless of whether the work would otherwise be considered a public work. It applies to county leases entered into 120 days after adoption, with a term of 10 years or more, and construction projects exceeding $250,000 that benefit the county. Legislators asked about applicability to existing leases and renewals; the attorneys clarified that the act would apply to new leases and renewals after the effective date, but not to existing leases unless revised. A brief discussion about a separate airport hangar lease (City Bank hangar) raised the question of whether such a lease (where the county leases out property) would be covered; the attorneys noted that it would not fall under this act, but could potentially be subject to state public works laws or other legislation. The committee then moved into executive session at 1:28 PM to obtain legal advice and returned at 1:59 PM. No further questions were raised after the executive session.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on ACT-2026-86: The committee voted unanimously to sign the item and refer it to the full Board of Legislators. The motion was made by Legislator Nolan, seconded by Legislator Clements, and carried with all six members present (Puja, Clements, Nolan, Tubiolo, Ulaj, Gashi) voting aye. The act is now forwarded to the full Board for consideration.
- Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 2:03 PM.
Meeting Transcript
This meeting is being recorded and summarized. So yes, I agree. We're on we're on everybody. So uh good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our Monday. May the fourth be with you. Nothing legislation meeting. Okay, sorry. I had to get a shame of those Star Wars fans out there. I know there are anyway. Uh this is uh a joint meeting between uh the committees on legislation and uh committee on labor. So make sure I feel like and so I will take um I'll take uh attendance before legislation. I'm here to see um committee vice chair. I'm here. Um legislative bar. Here's no one here uh vice chair here. Yeah, let's say ooh, chairman here, all right. We are here and we have the entire committee here as well. Okay, and I'm going to do attendance for committee on labor. I am here, committee vice chair here, legislator Chubiola. Thank you. Uh Vice Chair Clements here, legislator Nolan, yeah, Chair Gashi here. Thank you. All right, so uh again, welcome everyone. And and we are uh also joined by legislator Pierce. Thank you for joining us. And online, we'll be joined by legislator Williams Johnson. Thank you for joining us. And uh we're gonna ask our um members of our uh law department to please come to the table and uh as we get uh ready to talk about this uh very important uh piece of legislation. Okay. So um if you both want to just uh introduce yourselves to the record and then um before you do that, more than just uh uh if you got message. Yeah, yeah. Oh wow, okay. Okay, but you know what? Let's let's go on. Okay. So I just want to say that on the uh addendum on the agenda for today is uh an act requiring uh item number 2026-18 is an act requiring lease or county lease property to use contractors and subcontractors that pay prevailing wage for certain construction projects that are undertaken for the county. Um again, we have uh members of the law department here, chief deputy county attorney. Very good. It's only taken 10 years. Six years, yeah. That's when you're gonna get a raise. Station chief deputy county attorney. Hi, Shonda McCloud. I'm an associate county attorney. Welcome. And uh let's jump right in and talk about this um new proposal this uh proposed legislation. All right, so we'll take it away. We were asked uh to draft an act. Um and what this act does, it's relatively short, um, but it sort of acts as a policy whereby any lease that the county agencies enter into where the term of the lease is I was gonna say 10 or more years, but I want to be a short 10 years or more. Yes, 10 years or more.
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