18-2-403. Preference of Montana labor in public works -- wages -- tax-exempt project -- federal exception. (1) In any contract let for state, county, municipal, school, or heavy and highway construction, services, repair, or maintenance work under any law of this state, there must be inserted in the bid specification and the contract a provision requiring the contractor to give preference to the employment of bona fide Montana residents in the performance of the work.
     (2) All public works contracts under subsection (1), except those for heavy and highway construction, must contain a provision requiring the contractor to pay:
     (a) the travel allowance that is in effect and applicable to the district in which the work is being performed; and
     (b) the standard prevailing rate of wages, including fringe benefits for health and welfare and pension contributions, that:
     (i) meets the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and other bona fide programs approved by the United States department of labor; and
     (ii) is in effect and applicable to the district in which the work is being performed.
     (3) In every contract for heavy and highway construction, there must be inserted a provision to require the contractor to pay the heavy and highway construction wage rates established statewide for the project.
     (4) A contract let for a project costing more than $25,000 and financed from the proceeds of bonds issued under Title 17, chapter 5, part 15, or Title 90, chapter 5 or 7, on or after July 1, 1993, must contain a provision requiring the contractor to pay the standard prevailing wage rate in effect and applicable to the district in which the work is being performed unless the contractor performing the work has entered into a collective bargaining agreement covering the work to be performed.
     (5) A contract may not be let to any person, firm, association, or corporation refusing to execute an agreement with the provisions described in subsections (1) through (4) in it, provided that in contracts involving the expenditure of federal-aid funds this part may not be enforced in a manner as to conflict with or be contrary to the federal statutes prescribing a labor preference to honorably discharged veterans of the armed forces and prohibiting as unlawful any other preference or discrimination among citizens of the United States.
     (6) Failure to include the provisions required by 18-2-422 in a public works contract relieves the contractor from the contractor's obligation to pay the standard prevailing wage rate and places the obligation on the public contracting agency.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 102, L. 1931; re-en. Sec. 3043.1, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 32, L. 1955; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 43, L. 1961; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 265, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 375, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 531, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 41-701(part); amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 58, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 139, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 561, L. 1987; (4)En. Sec. 1, Ch. 420, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 464, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 609, L. 1993.