Should the government mandate prevailing wages for housing construction?
Katie Porter came out against prevailing wages for housing construction in the CA governors campaign. I believe she is the only Democratic candidate to do so. How do you feel about that?
On one hand, CA is in a housing and affordability emergency. The cost to build housing in CA is significantly higher than anywhere else in the country and the government mandating prevailing wages directly increases the cost of construction.
On the other hand, prevailing wages are backed by unions and Democrats have traditionally strongly supported organized labor and higher wages.
So should the government prioritize lower costs, affordability, and increased housing supply? Or should the government prioritize unions and higher wages for construction workers?
Edit: In case people here weren’t sure if there was a genuine trade off, implementing prevailing wage standards increased the cost of construction by around $94,000 per unit.