Committee adopts tiered penalties for knowingly hiring unlicensed construction labor contractors, refers HB 4089 to Rules

The House Committee on Labor and Workforce Development on Feb. 16 adopted a dash-4 amendment to House Bill 4089 that narrows the bill to construction labor contractors and establishes a tiered criminal penalty for knowingly hiring unlicensed labor contractors.

Erin summarized the dash-4 amendment, which clarifies theft-of-services intent and applies a tiered structure so that a direct contractor or subcontractor who knowingly hires an unlicensed construction labor contractor would face a class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a class C felony for subsequent offenses. The amendment also increases penalties for unauthorized use of a construction contractor’s license.

Representative Bossard Davis and others sought clarification about how the bill differs from existing law. Staff noted the existing law contains a $2,000 civil penalty and that the dash-4 specifically carves out construction labor contractors and adds the tiered criminal structure in that context. Several members voiced concern about felony penalties and said they would prefer additional data before imposing heightened criminal consequences; Vice Chair Scharf said she would have liked to see data from HB 4012 before concluding this approach would be effective.

After discussion, the committee adopted the dash-4 amendment on roll call and moved HB 4089 as amended without recommendation to the House Committee on Rules for further consideration.