The arguments against repealing statewide prevailing wage laws are many and varied - and now, surprisingly, there's a new one.

A newly released study by Frank Manzo, policy director of the Midwest Economic Policy Institute, found that since Indiana weakened its "Common Construction Wage Act" (or prevailing wage) from 2012-2015, then fully repealed it on July 1, 2015, neighboring contractors and workers on the border in Kentucky may be the prime beneficiaries.

"The economic data," says a summary of the study by North America's Building Trades Unions, "suggests that out-of-state contractors benefited when prevailing wage was weakened.

After Indiana weakened the Common Construction Wage, higher paid public works construction workers in the state’s 13 southern most counties were replaced by lower-paid workers across the border in 14 Kentucky counties. This substantiates previous economic research which finds that weakening prevailing wage hurts local contractors. The redistribution of jobs and earnings to Kentucky construction workers has an adverse impact on income tax revenues and sales tax revenues in Indiana."

Most Republican lawmakers in Michigan have pushed for repeal of the state's prevailing wage law, and it was in fact declared their top legislative priority in 2015. But a likely veto from Gov. Rick Snyder, and two failed petition drives to repeal the Michigan Prevailing Wage Act, have kept the law in place. The GOP lawmakers have only listened to proponents claiming repeal will save tax dollars on public construction (even though it won't, according to at least three academic studies).

They have ignored studies that have found that prevailing wage sustains worker training programs without relying on taxpayer dollars, helps workers stay off public assistance because of the fair wages, retirement and medical benefits the law allows, helps contractors and owners plan their construction projects, and improves the entire construction industry by using fair wages as a motivating and workforce retention factor.

"Despite an emerging academic consensus that shows state prevailing wage laws have no discernible impact on project costs but do benefit local contractors," Manzo wrote, "there have been concerted efforts across the country to weaken or repeal these laws. While the majority of U.S. states have a prevailing wage law, at least 11 states have considered weakening their laws over the past three years– including Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky."

Along Indiana's southern border, Manzo's study explored the effect of weakening the Hoosier state's prevailing wage law. The findings of the report can be summarized in three key takeaways:

* Public works construction lost 885 jobs along the state line in Indiana counties but gained 770 jobs in Kentucky border counties after Indiana weakened its prevailing wage law;

*Earnings decreased for construction workers in Indiana counties but increased across the border in Kentucky counties after Indiana weakened its prevailing wage law;

* Weakening the Common Construction Wage in Indiana primarily benefited out-of-state contractors at the expense of local businesses and local workers.

Manzo's study illustrates that when prevailing wage laws are repealed, perhaps border counties provide the canary-in-the-coal mine example for what the rest of the state can expect. "Without an effective prevailing wage law, cut-rate contractors with cheaper, less-trained workers in other states can come in, win public bids, and take taxpayer dollars back with them to their own states upon project completion," he wrote.

Citing data from the 2012 Economic Census of Construction, the Midwest Economic Policy Institute reveals that states with weak prevailing wage laws or no law at all have 2.4 percent less of the total value of construction work completed by in-state construction firms compared to states with strong or average prevailing wage laws

Recent peer-reviewed analysis, the study said, finds that weakening prevailing wage in Michigan would eliminate 11,000 total jobs, reduce the state’s gross domestic product by $1.7 billion, and lower state and local tax revenues by $28 million.

Overall, the data shows that weakening prevailing wage reduces worker wages, particularly for the lowest-paid construction employees. Further analysis concludes that, if all states with strong or average prevailing wage legislation decided to weaken their laws, an additional 102,000 blue-collar construction workers would rely on food stamps, 319,000 would lose health insurance coverage, and the corresponding loss of income tax revenue and increased reliance on public assistance would cost U.S. taxpayers at least $4 billion per year.

Prior to weakening the law, the 14 border counties in Kentucky had fewer workers in heavy and civil engineering construction than the 13 Indiana border counties, and the Kentucky workers earned 11.7 percent less per month. Within two years of weakening the law, the Kentucky counties had significantly more workers in the sector than the Indiana counties, and they now earned 9.7 percent more on average every month.

With the weakening and then loss of its prevailing wage law between 2012 and 2015, average Indiana construction workers' wages fell to $26.70 per hour during that period, or by 2.34 percent. Construction workers' wages in Kentucy rose 11.55 percent during that three-year period, but wages were still more than $2 per hour less in 2015 than in Indiana, making them more attractive to hire that those in the Hoosier state.

"This case study should be a cautionary note to lawmakers in states across the Midwest who are considering weakening their state’s prevailing wage," the Midwest Economic Policy Institute concluded. "Prevailing wage is a policy that promotes high-road economic and community development. Weakening prevailing wage only hurts local contractors and workers."