Bill Text: PA SB1383 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Further providing for competition in award of contracts.

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Republican 13-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-09-25 - Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS [SB1383 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-SB1383-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 1894
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 1383 Session of2012
INTRODUCED BY EICHELBERGER, EARLL, PILEGGI, ROBBINS, ORIE, FOLMER, GORDNER, D. WHITE, ALLOWAY, GREENLEAF, SCHWANK, M. WHITE, BRUBAKER AND SCARNATI, JANUARY 17, 2012
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 17, 2012
AN ACT
Amending the act of August 23, 1967 (P.L.251, No.102), entitled,
as amended, "An act providing for the incorporation as public
instrumentalities of the Commonwealth and as bodies corporate
and politic of industrial and commercial development
authorities for municipalities, counties and townships;
prescribing the rights, powers and duties of such authorities
hereafter incorporated; authorizing such authorities to
acquire, by gift or purchase, to construct, improve and
maintain industrial, specialized, or commercial development
projects including projects for the elimination or prevention
of blight and the control of air and water pollution, and to
borrow money and issue bonds therefor; providing for the
payment of such bonds and giving security therefor, and
prescribing the rights of the holders of such bonds;
authorizing the lease or sale of industrial, specialized, or
commercial development projects to industrial, specialized,
or commercial enterprises; authorizing any county,
municipality or township to transfer or convey to such
authorities, any facilities or property available for
industrial, specialized, or commercial development projects;
exempting the property and securities of such authorities
from taxation; authorizing such authorities to enter into
contracts with and to accept grants from the Federal
Government or any agency thereof; and providing for approval
by the Secretary of Commerce of the proceedings relating to
industrial, specialized, or commercial development projects
of such authorities," further providing for competition in
award of contracts.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 12 of the act of August 23, 1967
(P.L.251, No.102), known as the Economic Development Financing
Law, amended December 17, 1993 (P.L.490, No.74), is amended to
read:
Section 12. Competition in Award of Contracts.--(a) All
construction, reconstruction, repairs or work of any nature made
directly by any authority where the entire cost, value or amount
of such construction, reconstruction, repairs or work, including
labor and materials, shall exceed [ten thousand dollars
($10,000)] the base amount of eighteen thousand five hundred
dollars ($18,500), subject to adjustment under subsection (b.1),
except construction, reconstruction, repairs or work done by
employes of said authority, or by labor supplied under agreement
with any Federal or State agency, with supplies and materials
purchased as hereinafter provided, shall be done only under
contract or contracts to be entered into by the authority with
the lowest responsible bidder upon proper terms, after due
public notice has been given asking for competitive bids as
hereinafter provided: Provided, however, That where the
authority is the legal title holder to the project, and there
exists an agreement whereby a project user or project applicant
will or can acquire legal title to the said project under the
then certain terms and conditions, contracts for construction,
reconstruction, repair, or work of any nature, or purchase of
machinery and equipment, may be awarded by the project user or
project applicant without regard to the limitations of this
section 12: And provided further, however, That for the purposes
of this section 12, "construction" or "acquisition" shall not
include acquisition of property for project purposes. No
contract shall be entered into between an authority and a
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contractor for construction of any project or portion thereof,
unless the contractor shall give an undertaking with a
sufficient surety or sureties approved by the authority, and in
an amount fixed by the authority, for the faithful performance
of the contract. All contracts of surety shall provide among
other things that the contractor entering into a contract with
the authority will pay for all materials furnished and services
rendered for the performance of the contract, and that any
person or corporation furnishing such materials or rendering
such services may maintain an action to recover for the same
against the obligor in the undertaking, as though such person or
corporation was named therein, provided the action is brought
within one year after the time the cause of action accrued.
(b) All supplies and materials costing [ten thousand dollars
($10,000) or more] the base amount of eighteen thousand five
hundred dollars ($18,500), subject to adjustment under
subsection (b.1) to be purchased directly by an authority shall
be purchased only after due advertisement as hereinafter
provided. The authority shall accept the lowest bid or bids,
kind, quality and material being equal, but the authority shall
have the right to reject any or all bids or select a single item
from any bid. The provisions as to bidding shall not apply to
the purchase of patented and manufactured products offered for
sale in a noncompetitive market or solely by a manufacturer's
authorized dealer.
(b.1) Adjustments to the base amounts specified under
subsections (a), (b) and (g) shall be made as follows:
(1) The Department of Labor and Industry shall determine the
percentage change in the All Items Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the United States City Average as
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published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of
Labor Statistics for the twelve-month period ending September
30, 2012, and for each successive twelve-month period
thereafter.
(2) If the department determines that there is no positive
percentage change, then no adjustment to the base amounts shall
occur for the relevant time period provided for in this
subsection.
(3) (i) If the department determines that there is a
positive percentage change in the first year that the
determination is made under paragraph (1), the positive
percentage change shall be multiplied by each base amount and
the products shall be added to the base amounts, respectively,
and the sums shall be preliminary adjusted amounts.
(ii) The preliminary adjusted amounts shall be rounded to
the nearest one hundred dollars ($100), to determine the final
adjusted base amounts for purposes of subsections (a), (b) and
(g).
(4) In each successive year in which there is a positive
percentage change in the CPI-U for the United States City
Average, the positive percentage change shall be multiplied by
the most recent preliminary adjusted amounts and the products
shall be added to the preliminary adjusted amount of the prior
year to calculate the preliminary adjusted amounts for the
current year. The sums thereof shall be rounded to the nearest
one hundred dollars ($100) to determine the new final adjusted
base amounts for purposes of subsections (a), (b) and (g).
(5) The determinations and adjustments required under this
subsection shall be made in the period between October 1 and
November 15 of the year following the effective date of this
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subsection, and annually between October 1 and November 15 of
each year thereafter.
(6) The final adjusted base amounts and new final adjusted
base amounts obtained under paragraphs (3) and (4) shall become
effective January 1 for the calendar year following the year in
which the determination required under paragraph (1) is made.
(7) The department shall publish notice in the Pennsylvania
Bulletin prior to January 1 of each calendar year of the annual
percentage change determined under paragraph (1) and the
unadjusted or final adjusted base amounts determined under
paragraphs (3) and (4) at which competitive bidding is required
under subsection (a) or (g) and advertisement is required under
subsection (b), respectively, for the calendar year beginning
the first day of January after publication of the notice. The
notice shall include a written and illustrative explanation of
the calculations performed by the department in establishing the
unadjusted or final adjusted base amounts under this subsection
for the ensuing calendar year.
(8) The annual increase in the preliminary adjusted base
amounts obtained under paragraphs (3) and (4) shall not exceed
three percent.
(c) The terms "advertisement" or "due public notice"
wherever used in this section, shall mean a notice published at
least ten days before the award of any contract, in a newspaper
of general circulation published in the municipality where the
authority has its principal office, and if no newspaper is
published therein then by publication in a newspaper in the
county where the authority has its principal office: Provided,
That such notice may be waived where the authority determines an
emergency exists, and such supplies and materials must be
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immediately purchased by the said authority.
(d) No member of the authority or officer or employe thereof
shall, either directly or indirectly, be a party to or be in any
manner interested in any contract or agreement with the
authority for any matter, cause or thing whatsoever by reason
whereof any liability or indebtedness shall in any way be
created against such authority. If any contract or agreement
shall be made in violation of the provisions of this section the
same shall be null and void and no action shall be maintained
thereon against such authority.
(e) Subject to the aforesaid, any authority may (but without
intending by this provision to limit any powers of such
authority) enter into and carry out such contracts, or establish
or comply with such rules and regulations concerning labor and
materials and other related matters in connection with any
project or portion thereof, as the authority may deem desirable,
or as may be requested by any Federal agency that may assist in
the financing of such project or any part thereof.
(f) The provisions of this section 12 shall not apply in
respect of the construction of any project or the purchase of
any equipment, materials or supplies which the authority may
have had transferred to it upon completion, by purchase or
otherwise, by a project applicant or project user or any other
person or corporation.
(g) Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, all construction,
reconstruction, repairs or work of any nature with regard to
publicly owned infrastructure facilities, where the entire cost,
value or amount of such construction, reconstruction, repairs or
work, including labor and materials, shall exceed [ten thousand
dollars ($10,000)] the base amount of eighteen thousand five
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hundred dollars ($18,500), subject to adjustment under
subsection (b.1), shall be done only under contract or contracts
to be entered into by the authority or the owner of the
infrastructure facility, with the lowest responsible bidder upon
proper terms, after due public notice has been given asking for
competitive bids as set forth in this section or other
applicable law.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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