Apprenticeship requirements for TIF projects considered

The Urban Affairs Committee heard testimony Feb. 18 on a bill intended to increase the number of skilled tradespeople in Nebraska.

LB447, introduced by Omaha Sen. John Cavanaugh, would add contract requirements for redevelopment plans or projects that use tax-increment financing in counties with a population of 60,000 or more.

Under the bill, contracts would include a requirement that qualifying apprentices — those who are represented by certain nonprofit labor organizations and employed by a redeveloper, contractor or subcontractor participating in a registered apprenticeship program — perform at least 15% of a project’s total construction labor hours.

Additionally, each redeveloper, contractor or subcontractor that employs at least four construction workers for a redevelopment project would have to employ at least one qualified apprentice.

The requirements would not apply if a program denies a request for apprentices or fails to respond to a request within 15 business days.

Cavanaugh said LB447 would help address the state’s skilled labor shortage by requiring developers that benefit from tax-increment financing to provide job opportunities for apprentices.

“The only way to get more skilled labor is if we actually invest in training people,” he said. “We invest in training people through apprenticeship programs.”

Another provision would require that laborers and mechanics working on a project be paid wages not less than those paid for similar construction projects in the area.

Jon Nebel testified in support of the bill on behalf of a group representing Nebraska electrical workers. He said the qualifying registered apprenticeship programs — which are not required to be affiliated with a labor union — ensure that electrical workers receive “well-rounded” on-the-job training as well as classroom instruction.

Nebel said one qualifying union apprenticeship program in Nebraska accepts approximately one in four applicants annually.

“We have room to expand,” he said. “It’s the opportunity that’s missing, and we think that TIF is a good way to create opportunity.”

Testifying in opposition to the bill was Scott Vogt on behalf of Hoppe Development, the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Nebraska Bankers Association.

He said developers and contractors would struggle to find enough apprentices to meet the bill’s requirements, ultimately increasing the cost of redevelopment projects.

“I think there’s a place for this,” Vogt said. “I just think tying it to these affordable multifamily TIF projects is not the right place to do it.”

Also in opposition was Bill Brown of the Nebraska and South Dakota chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors. By requiring that qualifying apprentices be represented by a certain type of nonprofit organization, he said, LB447 would exclude workers who participate in a comparable training program offered by ABC.

“This measure does not promote workforce development,” Brown said. “It actually restricts it.”

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.