HCS HB 113 -- STATE BUILDING CONTRACTS

SPONSOR:  Hickey

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Labor by
a vote of 9 to 6.

This substitute prohibits public owners or any state
construction manager from allowing any contractor or other
entity to bid for any construction, alteration, or repair
project with an estimated cost of more than $200,000 until the
public owner determines that the contractor satisfies certain
pre-bid qualifications.  The substitute contains the criteria
pertaining to the pre-bid qualifications.

Prior to submitting a bid for a state project contractors are
required to provide specified information to the public owner
which is necessary to determine the pre-bid qualifications of
the contractors.

Public owners or state construction managers are required to
administer the provisions of the substitute as a pre-bid
qualification standard.  The public owner is required to inform
any contractor whether the contractor is qualified to bid or is
disqualified from bidding for a contract as stated.  The
substitute requires that contracts be awarded by competitive
bidding as provided by law.

The provisions of the substitute do not apply to the state
Highways and Transportation Commission, the Missouri Department
of Transportation, or local political subdivisions of Missouri.

The substitute also requires that the policy of the state of
Missouri is to hire contractors who perform quality work and who
complete construction projects.  If a construction contractor
performs less than satisfactory work on a state project, the
contracting state agency may determine the contractor to be
ineligible to contract for state projects for a specified period
of time.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the major purpose of the bill
is to ensure the completion of quality work on state building
projects.  Supporters also state that another purpose of the
bill is to strengthen the qualifications of contractors who bid
on state projects.  The strengthening of the qualifications will
protect the state of Missouri from sub-standard work provided by
contractors.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Hickey; Missouri
Department of Transportation; Missouri AFL-CIO; Carpenters
District Councils of Kansas City and St. Louis; and Missouri
Municipal League.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that they had initial
concerns with the legislation which included subjective criteria
used in the proposed bid process and an emphasis on bid
disqualification.

Testifying against the bill was Associated General Contractors
of Missouri.

Joseph Deering, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated November 26, 2001 at 11:42 am