Wage Theft Prevention Act Debated In New York

According to Capitol Confidential, a blog by the (Albany, NY) Times Union, the chances for passage of the Wage Theft Prevention Act to the governor’s desk requires prompt action if the Senate and the Assembly are to reach resolution before a possible GOP takeover of the Senate.

Based on the current situation, the New York Assembly and the Senate have three paths to take in order to complete the work on the bill on time.  Blogger Casey Seiler writes:

“Both the Senate and Assembly passed versions of the measure near the end of this year’s session.  Getting it to Governor David Paterson’s desk – where, backers believe, it would be signed – requires the Legislature taking one of three paths.  In declining order of likelihood: 

• The Assembly passes the Senate’s bill, with the thinking that details to resolve the two versions will be worked out in future legislation.
• The Senate acts on the Assembly’s bill, with the same caveat.  With the Democratic conference expected to be shy several members – and the GOP unlikely to feel extra-passionate about the measure – this seems like a long shot.
• Paterson works out a compromise bill that manages to attract a sufficient number of Senate GOP votes to earn passage.  See above.”

The most likely seems to be that the Assembly passes the Senate bill.  That might be a long shot as several of the members of the Assembly have said that the Senate version needs lots of work.  This back and forth is indicative of the normal political wranglings, but the importance of this bill to the construction industry in New York makes it one to watch.