Bill Text: CT HB06579 | 2013 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Prequalification Of Subcontractors, Removing The Municipal Exemption From The Set-aside Program And The Percentage Of Contracts Reserved For Minority Business Enterprises.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-07 - Public Hearing 03/11 [HB06579 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2013-HB06579-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 6579
January Session, 2013		LCO No. 3868
		*03868_______GAE*
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)

AN ACT CONCERNING THE PREQUALIFICATION OF SUBCONTRACTORS, REMOVING THE MUNICIPAL EXEMPTION FROM THE SET-ASIDE PROGRAM AND THE PERCENTAGE OF CONTRACTS RESERVED FOR MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 4a-100 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):

(b) (1) Any person may apply for prequalification to the Department of Administrative Services. Such application shall be made on such form as the Commissioner of Administrative Services prescribes and shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable application fee as set forth in [subdivision] subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection. The application shall be signed under penalty of false statement.

(2) The application fee for contractors shall be as follows:

T1	Aggregate Work Capacity Rating	Fee
T2	$5,000,000.00 or less	$600.00
T3	$5,000,000.01 - $8,000,000.00	$750.00
T4	$8,000,000.01 - $10,000,000.00	$850.00
T5	$10,000,000.01 - $15,000,000.00	$1,000.00
T6	$15,000,000.01 - $20,000,000.00	$1,500.00
T7	$20,000,000.01 - $40,000,000.00	$2,000.00
T8	$40,000,000.01 or more	$2,500.00

(3) The application fee for subcontractors shall be as follows:

T9	Aggregate Work Capacity Rating	Fee
T10	$5,000,000.00 or less	$600.00
T11	$5,000,000.01 - $8,000,000.00	$750.00
T12	$8,000,000.01 - $10,000,000.00	$850.00
T13	$10,000,000.01 - $15,000,000.00	$1,000.00
T14	$15,000,000.01 or more	$1,500.00

Sec. 2. Subsection (d) of section 4a-100 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):

(d) Each applicant who is a contractor shall also include a statement of financial condition prepared by a certified public accountant that includes information concerning the applicant's assets and liabilities, except if the applicant has been accepted into the bonding program of a certified community development financial institution, the applicant need only provide the financial documents required by such institution for the applicant to qualify for such program. Each applicant who is a contractor shall provide a bonding company letter stating the aggregate work capacity and single project limit bonding capacity of the applicant, and other information as the commissioner deems relevant to an evaluation of the applicant's financial capacity and responsibility. For purposes of this subsection, "certified community development financial institution" means a community development bank, credit union or loan or venture capital fund that provides financial products and services in economically distressed markets and that is certified by the Certified Development Financial Institution Fund of the United States Department of the Treasury.

Sec. 3. Subsections (a) to (d), inclusive, of section 4a-60g of the general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):

(a) As used in this section and sections 4a-60h to 4a-60j, inclusive, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) "Small contractor" means any contractor, subcontractor, manufacturer, service company or nonprofit corporation (A) that maintains its principal place of business in the state, and (B) that had gross revenues not exceeding fifteen million dollars in the most recently completed fiscal year prior to such application. "Small contractor" does not include any person who is affiliated with another person if both persons considered together have a gross revenue exceeding fifteen million dollars.

(2) "State agency" means each state board, commission, department, office, institution, council or other agency with the power to contract for goods or services itself or through its head.

(3) "Minority business enterprise" means any small contractor (A) fifty-one per cent or more of the capital stock, if any, or assets of which are owned by a person or persons (i) who exercise operational authority over the daily affairs of the enterprise, (ii) who have the power to direct the management and policies and receive the beneficial interest of the enterprise, and (iii) who are members of a minority [, as such term is defined in subsection (a) of section 32-9n] or who are women, (B) who is an individual with a disability, or (C) which is a nonprofit corporation in which fifty-one per cent or more of the persons who (i) exercise operational authority over the enterprise, and (ii) have the power to direct the management and policies of the enterprise are members of a minority, [as defined in this subsection,] are women or are individuals with a disability.

(4) "Minority" means (A) Black Americans, including all persons having origins in any of the Black African racial groups not of Hispanic origin; (B) Hispanic Americans, including all persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race; (C) all persons having origins in the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal, regardless of race; (D) Asian Pacific Americans and Pacific islanders; or (E) American Indians and persons having origins in any of the original peoples of North America and maintaining identifiable tribal affiliations through membership and participation or community identification.

[(4)] (5) "Affiliated" means the relationship in which a person directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with another person.

[(5)] (6) "Control" means the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of any person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or through any other direct or indirect means. Control shall be presumed to exist if any person, directly or indirectly, owns, controls, holds with the power to vote, or holds proxies representing, twenty per cent or more of any voting securities of another person.

[(6)] (7) "Person" means any individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, joint stock company, business trust, unincorporated organization or other entity.

[(7)] (8) "Individual with a disability" means an individual (A) having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the individual, which mental impairment may include, but is not limited to, having one or more mental disorders, as defined in the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", or (B) having a record of such an impairment.

[(8)] (9) "Nonprofit corporation" means a nonprofit corporation incorporated pursuant to chapter 602 or any predecessor statutes thereto.

(b) It is found and determined that there is a serious need to help small contractors, minority business enterprises, nonprofit organizations and individuals with disabilities to be considered for and awarded state contracts for the construction, reconstruction or rehabilitation of public buildings, the construction and maintenance of highways and the purchase of goods and services. Accordingly, the necessity, in the public interest and for the public benefit and good, of the provisions of this section, sections 4a-60h to 4a-60j, inclusive, and sections 32-9i to 32-9p, inclusive, is declared as a matter of legislative determination. Notwithstanding any provisions of the general statutes to the contrary, and except as set forth herein, the head of each state agency and each political subdivision of the state [other than a municipality] shall set aside in each fiscal year, for award to small contractors, on the basis of competitive bidding procedures, contracts or portions of contracts for the construction, reconstruction or rehabilitation of public buildings, the construction and maintenance of highways and the purchase of goods and services. Eligibility of nonprofit corporations under the provisions of this section shall be limited to predevelopment contracts awarded by the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development for housing projects. The total value of such contracts or portions thereof to be set aside by each such agency shall be at least twenty-five per cent of the total value of all contracts let by the head of such agency in each fiscal year, provided that neither: (1) A contract that may not be set aside due to a conflict with a federal law or regulation; or (2) a contract for any goods or services which have been determined by the Commissioner of Administrative Services to be not customarily available from or supplied by small contractors shall be included. Contracts or portions thereof having a value of not less than twenty-five per cent of the total value of all contracts or portions thereof to be set aside shall be reserved for awards to minority business enterprises, provided not less than fifty per cent of the contracts or portions thereof so reserved shall be reserved for awards to minority business enterprises that are members of a minority.

(c) The head of any state agency or political subdivision of the state [other than a municipality] may, in lieu of setting aside any contract or portions thereof, require any general or trade contractor or any other entity authorized by such agency to award contracts, to set aside a portion of any contract for subcontractors who are eligible for set-aside contracts under this section. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to diminish the total value of contracts which are required to be set aside by any state agency or political subdivision of the state [other than a municipality] pursuant to this section.

(d) The heads of all state agencies and of each political subdivision of the state [other than a municipality] shall notify the Commissioner of Administrative Services of all contracts to be set aside pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) of this section at the time that bid documents for such contracts are made available to potential contractors.

Sec. 4. Subsection (h) of section 4a-60g of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):

(h) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any state agency or political subdivision of the state [other than a municipality] for which the total value of all contracts or portions of contracts of the types enumerated in subsection (b) of this section is anticipated to be equal to ten thousand dollars or less.

Sec. 5. Subsections (l) and (m) of section 4a-60g of the general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):

(l) On or before August 30, 2007, and annually thereafter, each state agency and each political subdivision of the state [other than a municipality] setting aside contracts or portions of contracts shall prepare a report establishing small and minority business set-aside program goals for the twelve-month period beginning July first in the same year. Each such report shall be submitted to the Commissioner of Administrative Services, the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and the cochairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to planning and development and government administration and elections.

(m) On or before November 1, 1995, and quarterly thereafter, each state agency and each political subdivision of the state [other than a municipality] setting aside contracts or portions of contracts shall prepare a status report on the implementation and results of its small business and minority business enterprise set-aside program goals during the three-month period ending one month before the due date for the report. Each report shall be submitted to the Commissioner of Administrative Services and the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. Any state agency or political subdivision of the state [, other than a municipality,] that achieves less than fifty per cent of its small contractor and minority business enterprise set-aside program goals by the end of the second reporting period in any twelve-month period beginning on July first shall provide a written explanation to the Commissioner of Administrative Services and the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities detailing how the agency or political subdivision will achieve its goals in the final reporting period. The Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities shall: (1) Monitor the achievement of the annual goals established by each state agency and political subdivision of the state; [other than a municipality;] and (2) prepare a quarterly report concerning such goal achievement. The report shall be submitted to each state agency that submitted a report, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, the Commissioner of Administrative Services and the cochairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to planning and development and government administration. [and elections.] Failure by any state agency or political subdivision of the state [other than a municipality] to submit any reports required by this section shall be a violation of section 46a-77.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2013	4a-100(b)
Sec. 2	October 1, 2013	4a-100(d)
Sec. 3	October 1, 2013	4a-60g(a) to (d)
Sec. 4	October 1, 2013	4a-60g(h)
Sec. 5	October 1, 2013	4a-60g(l) and (m)

Statement of Purpose:

To modify the application fee range for subcontractors applying for prequalification, to exempt subcontractors from the requirement to submit a statement of financial condition and bonding company letter for prequalification, to remove the municipal exemption from the set-aside program requirements and to modify the percentage of contracts reserved for minority business enterprises by distinguishing women from minorities.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]