SCS HCS HB 1380 -- MISSOURI PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
TRANSPORTATION ACT

This bill establishes the Missouri Public-Private Partnerships
Transportation Act and authorizes the Highways and Transportation
Commission to form a public-private partnership to use private
sector innovation and investments to build a new Mississippi
River bridge in St. Louis.

Potential private partners may submit to the commission an
unsolicited request for approval of a project to finance,
develop, and/or operate the bridge.

The commission must establish a process to accept and review
requests and may approve the project if it determines the bridge
will improve the state highway system and is a needed addition.
To promote and support the objectives of the United States
foreign policy regarding terrorism, the commission must
establish, prior to the receipt and review of any request for the
approval or response to a request for proposal, a policy that
prohibits a private partner from entering into an interim or
comprehensive agreement with the commission to finance, develop,
and/or operate the project if the private partner, its
subsidiaries, or affiliated entities are known to sponsor
terrorism or aid the government of countries that are known to
sponsor terrorism.  The commission is not required to select the
proposal which has the lowest price but may consider price,
design, financing plan, and other factors like the
qualifications, industry experience, and financial capacity of
the potential private partner to determine the best value for the
state.

The commission may execute an interim agreement with a
tentatively approved private partner to begin specific
compensable activities to further the development of the project.
The commission, as a condition for final approval, must execute a
comprehensive agreement with the private partner.  The agreement
requirements are specified in the bill.  The commission may
terminate negotiations with a potential private partner during
the interim or comprehensive agreement phase as well as reject
any and all requests for approval.

Any information submitted to the commission by potential private
partners in requests for approval or responses to a request is a
closed record under the state's Sunshine Law.  After a
comprehensive agreement is executed by a private partner and the
commission, the agreement and other materials submitted to the
commission by the private partner will be open records.

Private partners will have the power:

(1)  To contract with any public or private entity;

(2)  To lease or operate the project for any term as provided in
the comprehensive agreement;

(3)  To collect and enforce user fees; and

(4)  To issue corporate bonds, private activity bonds, refunding
bonds, notes, and other obligations.

A private partner will be required to provide:

(1)  Securities and warranties satisfactory to the commission;

(2)  Audited financial statements in a form acceptable to the
commission;

(3)  Evidence of sufficient commercial general liability
insurance and workers' compensation insurance;

(4)  Performance and payment bonds acceptable to the commission;
and

(5)  A detailed disadvantaged business enterprise participation
plan that conforms to commission reporting requirements for the
federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program pursuant to
federal law and regulations on federal-aid highway projects.

The commission may:

(1)  Delegate necessary powers of the commission to carry out the
provisions of the bill;

(2)  Promulgate rules;

(3)  Make all final decisions concerning the performance and the
acceptance of the work;

(4)  Impose a user fee;

(5)  Take any action to obtain federal, state, or local
government or private sector assistance for a project and enter
into contracts required for the assistance;

(6)  Lease the project and any interest it has in real property
to the private partner; and

(7)  Exercise the powers of condemnation to acquire any real
property required for the project.

The bill also establishes tort liability caps for the private
partner and its employees and agents in amounts identical to
those established in the sovereign immunity statutes and requires
the commission to make an annual report to the Joint Committee on
Transportation Oversight regarding the public-private
partnership's method of financing, developing, and/or operating
the project.

Missouri House of Representatives
93rd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated November 29, 2006 at 9:43 am