By Associated Press

A bill that will suspend Nevada’s prevailing wage rules on school construction projects was signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval on Friday.

Senate Bill 119 will extend school construction bonds beyond the term approved by voters as a way to ease overcrowding, but also ends rules that are essentially a minimum wage for contractors.

It was opposed by Democrats who said it would harm middle-class contractors. Some conservatives opposed the bill because they see the bond rollover as a tax increase.

The governor issued the following statement after signing SB119, companion legislation to SB207, Schools for the New Nevada, Building for our Future: “Children across Nevada need more schools now, and our education system has limited resources to build them. This narrowly tailored, extraordinary measure will allow school districts to stretch these limited resources as far as possible to meet an immediate need.”