H.B. 396 Public Project Subcontractor Amendments

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Every vote

• 11 yes, 0 no, 1 absentHouse Government Operations Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 6, 2026Who voted how
• 68 yes, 1 no, 6 absentFinal House vote · Feb 17, 2026
• 5 yes, 0 no, 2 absentSenate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee: vote to change the bill · Feb 26, 2026Who voted how
• 4 yes, 0 no, 3 absentSenate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 26, 2026Who voted how
• 27 yes, 0 no, 2 absentFinal Senate vote · Mar 6, 2026
• 65 yes, 1 no, 9 absentHouse vote to accept the other chamber's changes · Mar 6, 2026

Hearings and debates

• Feb 6, 2026 House Government Operations Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (19 turns)

  1. Vice Chair Petersen (presiding)2:08:27

     You can go ahead and start since you're ready.

  2. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton2:08:30

     Alright. Thank you Mr. Chair and committee members. Um, the bill before you is House Bill 3 96 public project subcontractor amendments. And, uh, before I get into the meat and potatoes of Bill, I just want to thank the, the, the, the folks that brought this bill forward and those from the construction industry that work diligently with them, uh, to, to bring this bill before us. Obviously, we take our responsibility as, uh, uh, keepers of the, uh, taxpayer funds very seriously. Indeed. We have a requirement in our constitution to balance a budget, which i, i, I love and that's why I like to serve up here. Uh, but a but a problem was discovered, uh, when it came to, uh, to projects, uh, public project construction. And what was found was that there were some, uh, errors and some fraud per perhaps going on, uh, with, uh, new worker compensation insurance, uh, requirements to the tune of, uh, uh, a lot of money. Uh, we, we were losing, um, um, some, uh, $25 million potentially in workers' compensation, FICA and overtime costs and, uh, up to $5 million in, uh, income tax, uh, with improper reporting for large projects. So, um, say you, you, you win a state contract to build a large building, you only have 50 employees, but you need 200. You go maybe to a labor broker and get another 150 employees. And, uh, uh, proper paperwork, uh, in some cases wasn't being done. And so what this bill does simply is it requires that, uh, uh, uh, insurance, uh, comp workers' compensation, a test station insurance requirement is signed. And if you look in the bill, that thing is in large block letters, and it's done that way for a reason, uh, so that it's very clear, uh, what it is you're signing. And, uh, there's also a mandatory statement in there for criminal fraud, uh, to, to warn against that. It, uh, clarifies enforcement authority and penalty structures, uh, related unemployment assurance, reporting, collections, liens and warrants. It creates new compliance and disclosure obligations for a subcontractor working on a public construction project and requires subcontractor on a public project to provide employee information to the division. Uh, and, and, and the way they do that, uh, is to provide an employee list upon request. Uh, Doppel is the, uh, agency that does the inspection of these sites and has the ability to make audit recommendations to the state tax Commission. Um, and then it expands the definition for unprofessional conduct, uh, to include failure to comply. And again, I want to make it very clear that when we Uintah the, the construction companies out there, that they were willing to work with us on this. And, uh, the bottom line is, we, we love our construction industry. In no way do we want to damage or, or injure that industry, but as, uh, keepers of the state funds this, this bill is really absolutely required. And so with that, I'll, uh, rest and, and take any questions you may have.

  3. Vice Chair Petersen (presiding)2:11:47

     Thank you. So we're looking for any clarifying questions from the committee, and we're not seeing any clarifying questions from the committee. So we'll see if there's anyone from the public who'd like to make some input. I figured you would be. Come on up. What are you talking about, Dave? We're we're gonna give you a couple minutes. All right.

  4. Vice Chair Petersen (presiding)2:12:13

     You know, the drills, state your name and who you represent.

  5. David Spatafore, representing subcontracting associations2:12:16

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We appreciate, uh, David Telfor, and I'm representing a, a bevy of, uh, subcontracting organizations. I don't want to miss any associated builders and contractors. Independent contractors of Utah National Electric Contractors of Association, Utah Plumbing Heating Contractors Association, u Utah Subcontractors Alliance, also, uh, Utah Masonry Council, Utah Roofing Contractors Association, Rocky Mountain Gas Association Subcontractors who work with GCs. We worked very hard on this bill with, with, with Representative Burton. We've had many meetings over the interim, uh, with subcontractors, with general contractors with DFCM, with state agencies, doppel Workforce Services Tax and, and, uh, uh, and, uh, labor Commission. Uh, and we, we tried to strike a careful balance of not, not requiring too much regulation, but what's going on right now in a number of projects. You have general contractor subcontractor, the subcontractors don't have adequate personnel, so they hire out to labor brokers. And those labor brokers even essentially pay in cash or checks without, without any tax. And so there's no tax withholding, there's no workers' comp, there's no unemployment comp. We have pictures of checks without pay stubs. We have pictures of a hundred dollars bills that are given to these employees. And what happens is, is, is some, a lot of subcontractors feel that this is the only way they can get their business. As a matter of fact, we had one subcontractor that was almost willing to testify that their business intentionally follows this business model of not having any taxes withheld, not having any, any social security and any workforce services, any workers' comp, because that's the only way they can get a job. The reason they chose not to be here today is because they'd have to say who they are and the company. And because our state laws require, uh, uh, a a six years of, of verification, that would open them up to significant amount of penalties and interest and, and illegal and, and unprofessional behavior. I couldn't ask them to do that, but, and so the, and they, they, quite frankly, they support the bill. They want the model to end. They want to have their employees be employees. And that's our goal. And my time's up there are others who wanna speak. I know that I know how to count votes, so I know it's late on a Friday. We encourage your support and ask and ask that this bill move forward. Thank you. Thank you.

  6. Jeff Rogers, Workers Compensation Fund Insurance2:15:00

     Hi, Jeff Rogers speaking on behalf of Workers' Compensation Fund Insurance, uh, here quickly to express our support for this legislation as well as the appreciation of the sponsor for his efforts in this regard. Thanks.

  7. Vice Chair Petersen (presiding)2:15:17

     Thank you. Was there one more? Yeah, right there. Okay,

  8. Tyler Purcell, Vice President Preconstruction, Pete King Corporation2:15:27

     Go ahead. My name's Tyler Elli. I represent Pete King Corp. I've worked for the Pete King family of companies for 27 years, but, um, I'm not here to talk about child labor laws. Um, I, uh, moved to Utah in 2012 to help expand the company here. We grew quickly at our peak in 2019. We had 300 employees. Um, we mostly focused on very, very large projects. Today, we only have about a hundred employees. The main reason for that decline is the unfair competition from companies that use illegal labor brokers. When we first got here, the companies that followed this business model were mostly smaller companies and they focus on smaller jobs. But since about 2019, there's been a transition where these companies have grown and gotten deeper financial reserves. And now we're competing with companies like this on larger projects. And this is not just a union or a non-union issue. I I represent a non-union company, the carpenter, the union's also here. So this is an industry issue. It's not a union or a non-union issue. Um, most drywall contractors in the state of Utah do not hire their own employees. They hire a third party labor broker that pays, that pays their employees cash. We have hired, we have, over the years, we've hired many, many people who have previously worked for these labor brokers. And it's common knowledge amongst our employees that that is how it works. Um, we've had labor brokers approach us trying to get our business, and we could hire them for 25% less than what it costs for us to hire our own people because of all the fees, you know, the taxes, fica feta, suda, that that 25% Labor advantage translates to a 10 to 15% advantage on the bid price. And when you're hoping to make three to 4% on a project, 15%, 10% is insurmountable. Um, as I said, we've gone from 300 employees down to a hundred, and right now there's basically zero enforcement of this issue. And our hope is that you'll pa that, that you'll pass this bill and, um, you know, provide adequate enforcement to our companies that keep the lock and have a chance to be successful. Thank you.

  9. Vice Chair Petersen (presiding)2:17:24

     Thank you. Go ahead, sir.

  10. Trent Rounkles, Owner, Riverfront Roofing2:17:39

      At times I've been accused of rambling, so I do have this, uh, clear and concise here. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, my name is Trent Reels and I represent Riverfront Roofing here in Utah. I appreciate the opportunity to speak today In support of House Bill 0 3 9 6, certain labor brokers and operators continue to use methods that avoid basic employment, payroll, and insurance requirements, creating serious problems within our industry. When companies bypass payroll requirements, proper insurance coverage and worker protections, they gain an unfair advantage while shifting a significant risk onto the homeowner and disrupt a healthy competitive environment. Just this week, we met with two homeowners who fell victim to this scenario and were left with no accountability and no options. Situations like this show the importance of consistent standards. When these requirements are ignored, homeowners are left exposed to the financial loss, unsafe workmanship, and unresolved claims. At the same time, reputable and compliant contractors who operate with integrity, who are undercut by these practices, that should not be acceptable in Utah House. Bill 0 3 9 6 helps restore fairness and accountability by establishing clear enforceable standards that protect workers, consumers, and compliant and compliant businesses alike. For those reasons, riverfront Roofing supports House Bill 0 3 9 6. Thank you for your time. Thank You, sir.

  11. Vice Chair Petersen (presiding)2:19:07

      Was there anyone online? Okay. Is anyone else in the room that would want, want, want to speak to this? We don't have any, anyone online, so we'll bring it back to the Committee for action. Uh, representative MacPherson.

  12. Rep. Matt MacPherson2:19:23

      Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. And if I, could I ask one follow up question based on the public comment from the bill sponsor? Go ahead. Just to, You may ask me anything. Steve, go Ahead. Just to clarify, I, because I heard a couple of comments here that th this, there's nothing in this bill that precludes you from paying employees in cash. This is about making sure that you're paying payroll taxes, social security, unemployment, workers' compensation, that you're following those. But as far as I didn't say anything, and I just wanna clarify.

  13. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton2:19:52

      There, there, there, this isn't trying to remove cash from a method of payment for Subcontract negative. The answer is no. I mean, it's, it's clearly legal to pay cash. You simply have to cut a pay stub, uh, to capture those costs. And I also need to clarify that this is for public projects. We haven't gotten after private, uh, projects, but that is a problem in the industry as well. But this is for public projects currently. So

  14. Rep. Matt MacPherson2:20:18

      Thank you. And since I refute, I neglected to reserve the right, I, uh, guess I will allow someone else to make the motion.

  15. Vice Chair Petersen (presiding)2:20:26

      Perfect. We'll, uh, uh, Representative Romero, I think you're, there you go.

  16. Rep. Gina Romero2:20:35

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we pass out HB 3 96 public project subcontract amendments with the favorable recommendation. And would you like to speak to that? I'll waive. Okay.

  17. Vice Chair Petersen (presiding)2:20:47

      And to the, uh, bill sponsor?

  18. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton2:20:50

      No, I'll just say, uh, that this, this is, uh, something that we are, are here to do. We're fiduciaries for the state and for taxpayer, uh, dollars. And so I'm, I'm grateful for, uh, this bill and those that helped bring it forward. Uh, we need to protect honest, uh, companies so that they can bid and have the opportunity to get a project. And, uh, this bill will go a long way to doing that. So thank you and appreciate your support on this bill.

  19. Vice Chair Petersen (presiding)2:21:15

      Thank you. I suppose you wanna waive. Alright. Waived? Yeah, I, that's all right. So the motion before us is that we favorably recommend HB 3 96 public project subcontractor amendments. We'll take a, just a voice vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Perfect. Alright, that passes unanimously. Thank you very much. We have time for one more Adjourn. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Who made the motion? Okay.

• Feb 17, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (5 turns)

  1. Speaker (presiding)1:36:17

     House Bill 3 96 Public Project Subcontractor Amendments by Representative Burton. This bill was heard in government operations with the vote of 11 0 1 Representative Burton.

  2. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton1:36:32

     Thank you Mr. Baker. This, uh, bill is designed to prevent fraud in state construction projects. Uh, some fraud was identified with regard to properly paying workers' compensation and income tax with, uh, some subcontractor employees. We spent the summer working over this and, uh, have, uh, unanimous, uh, consent from everybody involved in this process. So would appreciate your support on the bill.

  3. Speaker (presiding)1:37:04

     Thank you Representative Burton discussion to the bill? None. Back to Representative Burton for summation.

  4. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton1:37:13

     Yeah, thanks Mr. Picker. And, uh, thanks to you for your input on this bill as well. I think we came to a good place on this. The entire industry agreed with the outcome and so I'd appreciate your vote on it. Thank you.

  5. Speaker (presiding)1:37:24

     Thank you. Representative Burton Voting will now be open on HB 3 96. Tasha, would you like to vote? Being all present, having voted voting is now closed. HP 3 96 passes this body with 68 yes votes one no vote and be sent to the Senate for its consideration. Madam Reading Clerk

• Feb 26, 2026 Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (24 turns)

  1. Committee chair1:09:31

     Let's call, uh, house Bill 3 96 Public Project subcontractor amendments Representative Burton.

  2. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton1:09:46

     Good afternoon, Mr. Chair Committee members. Thank you for hearing this bill. Um, and we will point out that I'll be, uh, speaking to first sub of the bill in the presentation. Okay. That's the sub that I'd like to advance. Alright. Uh, the bill Public Project Subcontractor amendments. Um, I know this has raised some eyebrows for some, I would tell you that we try to be very narrow in our focus.

  3. Unknown speaker1:10:13speaker not certain

     Second on this bill. Yeah, We got second sub. I don't wanna move. Second sub. You want me to do first sub or second? Okay. The first one, The only thing I'm requesting to adopt is first sub. Alright, so we're on the same page?

  4. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton1:10:26

     Yes, sir. Okay. Uh, and essentially I'll just in a nutshell, second or first sub rather on line 45 and beyond is a coordinating clause with, uh, house Bill 40, which is run by representative Tom Peterson. Uh, and so we needed that coordinating clause because they cross over a little. Uh, it also changed some of the pen penalties, uh, in this bill, uh, to, to make them more acceptable to the industry. The idea here is, uh, we tried very hard not to injure the construction industry in this, uh, that there are some bad actors that, that we've had on state projects. And this, this bill is limited to public projects only and, uh, it, it enacts, uh, in the bill. If you look at the very top of the bill, bill, there's an attestation statement there in all capital letters. Uh, it's a workers' compensation requirement that the employer fills out and including a mandatory signed statement about criminal fraud. Uh, just to be very clear, I take my duty as a public servant very seriously in protecting taxpayers. And, uh, the math that we've done, we, we see 25 million plus lost in workers' compensation and 5 million, potentially 5 million lost, uh, state income tax, uh, also over time and FICA loss. And so this bill requires that a, that a contractor, uh, uh, has, has this adaptation form filled out in, in the mandatory signed statement on criminal fraud warning. Um, as you know, doppel inspects, uh, construction projects. And when they go to that project, occasionally they need a list of employees provided to them. This bill requires that that also is done. That the, the, uh, and so for example, just imagine a drywall contractor has 50 employees. He bids on one of these large state jobs and he gets the job, but he needs 200 drywall, uh, con construction folks. And so he goes to potentially a labor broker. He gets the additional folks and they go to work. Uh, when, when the doppel inspectors come in, uh, they, they ask, uh, well, who are these people? Who do they work for? And the the contract will say, well, they don't work for me, uh, because they're sub uh, second tier, uh, subcontractors. This bill just simply requires that the contractor ensure that the, these at station, uh, statements are signed and the criminal fraud warning is signed, and that they, upon request, have a list of the employees that are working for them on that project. Um, and that's essentially, I mean, in a nutshell, uh, that's the, the bill. It, it allows us just to, to, if we're gonna clean a house in, in any area, we ought to clean our own house first. And when it comes to large state construction projects, we think this is a, a small thing to, to require that kind of organization and to ensure that, that both employees and employers are, are doing things right so that the proper taxes are collected. And that burden doesn't fall to all the other tax payers out there, uh, especially on our own construction projects. And, and with that, there's a, there's more, but I will just open it up to questions because I think there'll, there'll be some.

  5. Unknown speaker1:13:49speaker not certain

     Okay. Thank you. I can make a motion to sub if you Want. Yes. Let's take care of that first off.

  6. Sen. Evan J. Vickers1:13:57

     Okay. Okay, Mr. Chair, I would make a motion that we delete entitled and body and house bill 3 96 and replace it with first sub house bill 3 96.

  7. Committee chair1:14:06

     Okay. Thank you. Uh, discussion to that motion. He's explained that to us. So I'll call the question all those, uh, in favor of deleting title and body of house bill 3 96 and replacement with first substitute house bill 3 96. Say, aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? That's unanimous then. Alright. So we do have the first sub in front of us, uh, seeing no other questions, uh, let's open it up to public comment. Are, are there any individuals who wanna speak to this bill? We got three. All right. Let's have you come up and we'll hear those.

  8. Tyler Purcell, Pete King Corp.1:14:47

     Um, my name is Tyler Purcell. I represent Pete King Corp. We are a non-union drywall company here in the state. Um, and, uh, so this is not a union or a non-union issue. This gentleman here is with the Carpenters Union. So, um, but here within the state, you know, 10 years ago we have 300 employees and we were doing a lot of really, really big work. In the intervening years. We've gone down to about a hundred employees, and without some change to this, we're gonna go out of business. We've had these labor brokers come to us and their out the door rate is 25% less than what our out the door rate. In other words, we can hire them for 25% less. And it's commonly understood that they pay their people in cash, which you can pay legally in cash, but you have to withhold workers' comp, you know, all of those other things. And by not doing that, they save about 25%. They also don't pay overtime. They exploit their workers. That peak king, every employee we have, every person on our job site is a Pete King employee. They have the same 401k that I have. They have the same health insurance that I have. They have every one of our people makes a living wage. But that is not the case with these labor brokers. If they get hurt, they don't have workers' comp. If they, the, the employees of these labor brokers, if they get hurt, they don't have workers' comp, if they get hurt, um, or, you know, they, they, they don't have unemployment if they lose their job. Um, this MO model creates a 25% advantage on labor costs, which translates to a 10 to 15% advantage on bid price. We are hoping to make 4%, 5% on a job after overhead. So a 15% disadvantage is almost insurmountable. And if this isn't addressed, drywall contractors that actually keep the law will won't, there won't be any in Utah. So, thank You. Thank you.

  9. Calvin Fors, Western States Regional Council of Carpenters1:16:37

     Good. A good afternoon. My name's Calvin Fors. Um, I'm a representative with the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters. I'm also a third generation carpenter in this state. My father and my grandfather are, both, their fingerprints are all over this town. Uh, they've worked in the, I've worked in the construction industry for 25 years. Myself. Public projects are the known entity out of a lot of the things in the construction industry. So there's a lot of bad players out there. And a public project should be that one job where a guy can go and know that there's a good wage there for him. There's gonna be protections for him and his family if he gets hurt when he gets laid off. 'cause at the end of the day, your job is to work yourself outta that job. So there's probably gonna be some downtime. And they also support the community, both in the project being built, whether that be a school, um, something for the state, uh, uh, a new ball field for the park and recs department that is gonna support growth within that community. And it also supports the community where that worker lives. He's got wages now to pay his, to pay for his daughter's dance class, to put his boy on the baseball team that supports all those sorts of things. When these other contractors are undermining that by not paying, paying into the protections and cheating the system, it, it erodes all that away. Alls we've got now is just, is just anarchy and chaos on a project. Like my colleague said, uh, there's no workers' comp, there's no unemployment. There's no protection. That guy's basically getting paid under the table in one of several different fashions. I don't really think it's, it matters. I believe it was famously said, once you can pay a guy with rocks, you just need to document how many rocks you gave him. And that goes away. They, they don't, they have no, no place to turn to. When that labor broker decides, um, to cut their wages, to not provide 'em with safety equipment, all those sorts of things, by being listed on a payroll with a contractor on a public project, this is gonna ensure from the GC all the way down to the smallest sub, those protections, which is helping the community where that project is being built. And it's also helping the community where that worker lives. This is creating a cycle of that investment from the public entity throughout the whole system. It just keeps going. The money just keeps going in a circle. I make, I make money on that job. I support my economy. I go to the grocery store, I go to a, a, a dinner with my wife, and then that goes into that entity. And it just keeps going around. When these happen this way, it, it just stops that. Appreciate your time.

  10. Committee chair1:19:10

      Thank you. Did we have one more? Oh, Yes. Okay.

  11. David Spatafore, lobbyist1:19:18

      You're, you're trying to ignore me. Senator, uh, David Sfor. Thank you for letting me take the time. I'm representing a number of construction organizations that support this bill. Uh, associated builders and contractors, American Subcontractors Association, independent Electrical Contractors, international Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, IBEW, national Electrical Contractors Association, Utah Masonry Council, Utah Heating and Plumbing Contractors Association, Utah Roofing Contractors Association, Utah Subcontractors Alliance, Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, A-F-L-C-I-O also endorses this bill. In this, what I'd like to do is we, there's been a lot of discussion, if I may, Mr. Chairman, I'd just like to hand this to Senator Sandall, and you can look around. This is, this is what we're talking about. Okay. What we are, what we are, uh, talking about as it's been mentioned before by, by Representative Burton, by Mr. Purcell. Uh, uh, by, by Mr. Fors is you, we can pay employees any way we want cash checks electronic, but you have to provide a pay stub. What you're seeing there, we ha we've got from folks who worked for either, either in any of the larger, larger, uh, drywall contractors who Loa who lost their jobs, simply because they couldn't compete with these under underground construction. They're paid in cash, they're paid in checks without pay stubs. So what we're having here, and, and we got to this point by over the last year, uh, we met with, uh, Doppel Labor Commission, uh, uh, work Workforce Services, tax Commission, Workers' Comp. We met with all of these, all these construction organizations, and we came to House Bill 3 96, which is not an onerous opportunity. What it is, is it provides, it, it, it, it deals with trying to protect the state from fraud and allow transparency on a public work project site. In some cases, subcontractors that are getting these bids are, hi, avoid hiring W2 employees, and instead they rely on second tier subcontractors, often referred to, and you've heard that today as labor brokers to supply the manpower, these labor brokers pay individuals in cash or by check without providing legally required pay stubs, withholding taxes, maintaining workers' compensation coverage, or contributing to unemployment comp. These unprofessional and a lease of practices place workers at a significant risk. Employees are left without unemployment benefits if laid off without workers' comp if injured, and are exposed to a legal, to, excuse me, legal liability for unpaid income taxes. How much are we talking about? We don't know the exact number, an exact amount, but over the last year, uh, I think this is 2024, these, uh, these underground construction employees are estimated to have evaded up to $25.7 million in workers' compensation, FICA and overtime costs. Improper employment practices are also responsible for an estimated 2.6 to $5.1 million in, in lost state income tax revenue. They can, and, and, and in addition, they provi, they put the subcontractors who follow the rules at a disadvantage. With that being said, I'll stop there and, and let me just reiterate that you heard from two, uh, two organizations today. This bill is not being opposed by anyone. No one opposes the bill. And it's supported by associated builders and contractors. American Subcontractors Association, independent Electrical contractors, international Brotherhood Electrical Workers, national Electrical Contractors Association, Utah Masonry Council, Utah Heating and Plumbing Contractors Association, Utah Roofing Contractors Association, Utah Subcontractors Alliance, and the Western, uh, Western States Regional Council of Carpenters and A-F-L-C-I-O. If there are any questions, I'd be happy to answer.

  12. Committee chair1:23:34

      Okay, thank you. Don't see any, all right. We'll close public comment. We'll come back for further consideration from the committee. Senator Sandall.

  13. Sen. Scott D. Sandall1:24:01

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, so I'm sorry I missed the very first part of the presentation, but I, I want to try to just walk me through a, a typical scenario of a job site and say, okay, what is going to be required to be kept? How are they gonna keep it? I, I know they've gotta keep it for up to three years. Sorry. And, and exactly. Again, what has to be kept on the, uh, on the record, I'm trying to get, I guess, to how erroneous this might be for, uh, a contractor subcontractor and, and how long this might take. And then, and then also, I mean, obviously we're looking for some kind of documentation involved. Yeah.

  14. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton1:24:54

      Answer I can help answer. Alright. Uh, I'm not sure it's erroneous in any way. It, it might be onerous, uh, Onerous. Sorry. No, and, and I guess it's Taking about two different things. Okay, sorry about that. Um, the, the attestation form that's listed, uh, right there prominently on nines, uh, it starts on 51 goes all the way down through 67, uh, has to be filled out. Um, and also the, the mandatory sign statement con concerning criminal fraud. And then really the only other thing the employer needs to do, uh, senator, is to have a list of employees available upon request if Dopel asks for it. Uh, we understand that list changes frequently on job, project site, um, and, and, and they update 'em maybe quarterly. But, uh, what has been happening, sir, is that when those doppel inspectors go to these project sites, they'll say, well, where are your employees? Are these your employees? And, and the contractors will say, no, they're second tier tub subcontractors. They don't work for me. But they've been hired by the labor broker to work on that drywall project that is overall con supervised. By that, I don't wanna interrupt, but I don't want to take any more time than we have to.

  15. Sen. Scott D. Sandall1:26:13

      That's not my question. Okay. My question is, you fill out the, uh, yep. Every worker fills out this form. Signs it Just the, just the contractor that hires workers. Just the contractor. Yes, Sir. Then from each worker, they have to collect what data.

  16. Unknown speaker1:26:30speaker not certain

      Go ahead. I'm gonna let, uh, I'm gonna call my friend, uh, Senator. What happens is, is each contractor should have a list of the W2 employees. They all have that they, you know, and any legitimate subcontractor has to have their list of employees that they, that they withhold income taxes for, put on their social security, on their unemployment comp list, put on their workers' comp list. They just have to the subcontractor, not the employee. The subcontractors have to provide that to the GC when they're on the job period. That's it.

  17. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton1:26:57

      And that list from the subcontractor includes, includes name, Name, add, just just the name and who they work for. And if they are a licensed con, a licensed, a licensed profession like plumbers and electricians, they're license number. That's it. If, if there's a complaint on the project saying that this project, they're not, they're not withholding taxes. And if Doppel wants to investigate that, the sub, the subcontractor, not the contractor, the subcontractor and any second tier subs, then have to provide to that, to doppel the, the employee's name and, and their last four of their social. Now, that's no in, that's not information that, that, that, that the state doesn't have, because the tax commission gets that on the qua, on the regular quarterly payroll reports. So all this is, is a, is a transparent way to make sure that there is no fraud on, on publicly funded jobs. So the bur the burden is on the subcontractor arriving on the job to, to fill out the form, make sure that all the information is provided if and when doppel comes by and Correct.

  18. Sen. Scott D. Sandall1:28:02

      And then that the doppel would then look into the subcontractor. Correct. Thank you. That was, that's my questions. Okay. Thank you. Apologies. Thank you.

  19. Committee chair1:28:13

      Alright. Seeing no others, uh, we've had public comment, further consideration or action. Senator Vickers

  20. Sen. Evan J. Vickers1:28:23

      And Mr. Chair. I would make, let's see, we did the sub, right? Yes, We're on first sub. Yeah. I would make a, uh, motion that we favorably recommend for substitute with three 90 suits. We Just ought get outta here. Discussion

  21. Committee chair1:28:35

      to that. Let's go back to the sponsor for summation.

  22. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton1:28:40

      No, just appreciate your indulgence. I know we're late in the session. Everybody's tired. Um, appreciate this, uh, consideration of this bill. I think again, we need to get our house in order, uh, with state construction projects. And this is a step in that direction. Thank you.

  23. Committee chair1:28:54

      Okay. Back to Senator Vickers for summation, I believe. Alright, call the question then. Uh, question is, uh, first substitute house bill 3 96 out favorably. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Senator Plumb? If you're listening, can we get, uh, a vote? It will still pass. So we've got four in favor. She's gone. Alright, so that does pass. Thank you.

  24. Unknown speaker1:29:32speaker not certain

      Thank chair. Thanks committee.

• Mar 6, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (21 turns)

  1. Sen. Brady Brammer56:05

     Uh, thank you. So what this deals with is on there are certain, uh, subcontractor, well there're second tier subcontractors on public projects that oftentimes they're not, um, paying into the workers' compensation or unemployment insurance. And so what this does is on public contracts and only public contracts, it requires that they provide to the general contractor a list of their W2 employees, the list, the names and license numbers of second tier contract subcontractors, the, uh, the hours and the written notice of a zero estimated exposure policy. That's their insurance policy. And then, um, and then upon request by Doppel, uh, they can verify the licensing, uh, status of those. Um, it also requires the name, uh, upon request of doppel, they can request the name of the employees or their social security number or their professional license number, um, if they do require a, a professional license number for the job. And so, uh, this should help decrease some of the liability of the state on jobs when there are people that are second tier subcontractors, which are basically when you have a contractor and then a subcontractor, and then they hire third tier or second tier, uh, subcontractors. Uh, that's an area where there can be some, uh, failure to be properly licensed or insured, uh, and everything along that line. So with that, I'm open to any questions on it?

  2. Speaker (presiding)57:43

     Thank you. Senator Brammer Looking for discussion.

  3. Sen. Todd Weiler57:45speaker not certain

     Senator Weiler did the bill To yield. Sure.

  4. Sen. Todd Weiler57:49

     Senator Brammer, will you yield? Um, thank you. So you just said your presentation, social security numbers, I think line 5 28 requires the last four digits of social security number for each employee of a subcontractor. Um, don't you feel like that's a, a violation of a privacy of these employees? They, they're not the ones that are contracting with the state and now the government's going to be demanding the subcontractor, their bosses to give their social security numbers to the state. That, that seems a little bit onerous.

  5. Speaker (presiding)58:19

     Senate Senator Brammer.

  6. Sen. Brady Brammer58:21

     Sure. So that's the doppel, that's if Doppel requests it.

  7. Sen. Todd Weiler58:25

     Thank You Mr. President. I'd like to do a verbal motion to amend, Uh, And that would be the strike lines 5 28. That would just, that's in Order.

  8. Speaker (presiding)58:41

     So give me the, the verbal motion. It's

  9. Sen. Todd Weiler58:43

     The verbal motion is to strike line 5 28. That would still allow Doppel to get the name of the employee and the professional license, but not the social security number.

  10. Unknown speaker58:52speaker not certain

      And then if we strike 5 29 28 then on, we would change 5 29 from a C to a B. And then on 5 27 put an and after the, um, semi Sure. You don't want to try to prepare an amendment. Make sure we get this right. I I think it fits within the, the parameters. I can repeat it. It's very simple. It's just adding an and on 5 28, striking 5 29 and changing C to a B on five. Striking 5 28 changing C to a B on 5 29. That's it. Okay, so lemme make sure we've got this right on. On uh, 5 28. We already have an and do you want an add an and, Uh, no, I'm sorry. We're striking 5 28. So we add the, and to the end of 5 27, we Add an and on 5 27 after the word employee, correct? Yes. Then we strike 5 28 and then change Strike B and 5 28. And we then on 5 29, turn the C to a B. That's correct.

  11. Speaker (presiding)59:48

      Discussion. That motion to amend. I'm gonna go to Senator Brammer.

  12. Sen. Brady Brammer59:52

      I'll leave, I'll leave it to the will of the body on, on it. This is Doppel requesting information, but if the body doesn't want to have, uh, Doppler request Social security or the last four digits only of the Social security, that's fine.

  13. Speaker (presiding)1:00:04

      Okay. We Senator Weiler. Any summation?

  14. Sen. Todd Weiler1:00:07

      Yeah, so the, my concern here, it's a privacy concern and this is not for the subcontractors. If they wanna give their social securities, that's fine, but this is for all of their employees, their current employees, their future employees. And I just think it's a little bit onerous for the contractor to have to give all of their employees social security numbers to the government. So that's, that's the basis for the motion. They'd still get their names and any license that they had.

  15. Speaker (presiding)1:00:31

      Okay. Looking for any, I think we're in summation coming to place the motion. The motion is as described by Senator Weiler. Those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed no rule. It passes further discussion to the bill.

  16. Sen. Brady Brammer1:00:54

      Yeah. Uh, so like I said, uh, well we've, we've gone through the bill. Essentially this is just requesting information so that, uh, employees are employees and workers on public projects are properly licensed and insured. That's the intent to increase that compliance. And with that, I will, uh, uh, unless there's any other discussion, I'm seeing no discussion on the bill, so that I'll take that as a summation. I'm looking for a motion.

  17. Speaker (presiding)1:01:21

      I will move the question. Thank you. Thank you. And the question is under suspension of the rule, shall first substitute house bill three ninety six pass, roll call vote.

  18. Senate clerk1:01:28

      Senator Vickers. Baldy Lein Aye. Brammer aye. Bus? Aye. Colmore. A Escamia a Fillmore Grover Harper Kins Ipson Johnson Juab McKay Mikel A Milner Musman Owens pitcher Plum Rebi Sandal Stevenson Stratton Bickers Weiler Wilson Winterton Aye.

  19. Sen. J. Stuart Adams1:02:13

      President Adams Aye.

  20. Speaker (presiding)1:02:19

      First substitute house Bill 3 96, having received 2070 a votes, zero na votes two being absent, passes his body and will be returned to the house for further consideration.

  21. Speaker (presiding)1:02:50

      Senator Weiler.

• Mar 6, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (5 turns)

  1. Speaker (presiding)1:15:54

     Substitute House Bill 3 96 Public Project subcontractor amendments by Representative Burton. Representative Burton

  2. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton1:16:03

     Motion to concur with the uh, Senate amendments.

  3. Speaker (presiding)1:16:06

     Thank you representative. That motion is in order.

  4. Rep. Jefferson S. Burton1:16:07

     Wouldd like to speak to it. Yes. Uh, made just a simple change on line 5 28 to enhance, uh, the protection of the employees personally identifiable information and I felt like it was a good, uh, uh, change, so I support it.

  5. Speaker (presiding)1:16:23

     Thank you Representative Burton. Uh, discussion to the motion to concur with the Senate amendments on first substitute HB 3 96. See none. We will go ahead and place the motion. All in favor, say aye. Any opposed? Will that motion passes? Voting will now be open for final passage on first substitute HB three. Seeing all present, having voted voting is now closed for substitute. HB 3 96 passes this body of 65 Yes votes one, no vote and be sent to the Senate for the signature of the president. Madam Meeting Clerk