NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Members of the business community said the local-hire amendment that voters passed last week will have plenty of unintended consequences.
The first of which will likely happen as soon as the new law goes into effect.
John Finch has been the president and CEO of PBG Builders and the spokesman for a coalition of business owners who are opposed to Amendment 3.
"Our short run is we're not going to bid any Metro jobs until we at least understand a lot more about what this means and how it will be employed on projects," Finch said.
Finch's company built Nissan Stadium for the city, and has just been finishing up a project for NES.
Amendment 3 has mandated that all public projects over $100,000 in the city hire at least 40 percent of the workforce from within Davidson County.
Builders and business leaders have said it is a poorly worded amendment which has left them with a lot of questions and until those are answered many say they won't touch a Metro project.
Finch said builders don't have trained workers to fully staff projects as it is and adding the mandate on will mean projects get done much slower.
Members of Finch's coalition of business owners have still been trying to figure out their next move to hopefully defeat Amendment 3 either in the Legislature or in court.
Whoever is elected mayor will have to oversee how this law is implemented.
Megan Barry supported Amendment 3's passage. Her campaign sent this statement:
The language of Amendment 3 requires that the incoming Metro Council craft rules and guidelines before the law can be enforceable.
Megan has committed to bringing business and labor to the table with the Metro Council to create guidelines and rules that will help us meet our goal of hiring and training more local workers for taxpayer funded construction projects while ensuring that we don't negatively impact the progress that Nashville has experienced.
Megan has broad support from those who supported and opposed Amendment 3, and so she is in the best position to ensure that conversation and process happens in a positive, constructive fashion.
Meanwhile, David Fox opposed Amendment 3 and his campaign sent this statement:
Hiring local is always preferred, but everyone in town knows how hot the construction market is in Nashville right now. The reality is that there is already more demand for skilled construction labor than there are local workers to fill the need.
We all know that infrastructure projects, like fixing streets, water lines, sewer pipes and sidewalks are desperately needed. I've talked a lot about that during this campaign.
The impact of Amendment 3 will be that these projects either aren't going to happen because of a labor shortage or the costs are going to go through the roof because we'll be fighting against the private sector for construction crews. Higher costs to the taxpayers, more government debt, and a massive slow down in our city's ability to build critical infrastructure - that's what's about to happen.
Unfortunately, this is typical Megan Barry: Lack of experience, lack of leading anything in the private sector and her focus on liberal social issues, rather than thinking about what we need here in Nashville is how she would be paving the road for us to become the next Atlanta.
Davidson County voters approved Amendment 3 by a 58-42 percent margin on August 6.
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