Kansas and Prevailing Wage Legislation

Kansas prevailing wage law--the first in the country--was passed in 1891 to help prod the Kansas labor market in general and the construction labor market in particular down a high-skilled, high-wage growth path. Confronted with falling wage rates and longer working days, the Republican government of Kansas embraced a series of reforms including child labor laws, compulsory schooling, convict labor laws, the eight-hour day and prevailing wages. All of these reforms were aimed at the same goal. The Kansas labor market was to be regulated so that young people were in school, apprenticeships would be encouraged, the working day would be limited, and the competition would be built upon a system of skill-formation that generated and justified rising wages and incomes...