Bill Text: PA SB290 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Increasing the amount of purchases that may be made subject to certain conditions.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 22-3)

Status: (Passed) 2011-11-03 - Act No. 94 [SB290 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-SB290-Amended.html

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PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 264 PRINTER'S NO. 1562
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 290 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY BRUBAKER, EICHELBERGER, KASUNIC, FOLMER, GORDNER, BOSCOLA, ORIE, RAFFERTY, YAW, M. WHITE, D. WHITE, ERICKSON, BAKER, ALLOWAY, GREENLEAF, SMUCKER, FERLO, ROBBINS, VANCE, EARLL, SCARNATI, McILHINNEY, PICCOLA, WARD AND BROWNE, JANUARY 26, 2011
SENATOR CORMAN, APPROPRIATIONS, RE-REPORTED AS AMENDED, SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 29, 1937 (P.L.526, No.118), entitled,
as reenacted and amended, "An act providing for and
regulating joint purchases by counties (other than counties
of the first class), cities of the second and third class,
boroughs, towns, townships, school districts, institution
districts, and poor districts," increasing the amount of
purchases that may be made subject to certain conditions.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 2 of the act of April 29, 1937 (P.L.526,
No.118), referred to as the Political Subdivision Joint
Purchases Law, reenacted and amended July 28, 1941 (P.L.544, No.
224) and amended July 10, 1990 (P.L.398, No.95), is amended to
read:
Section 2. (a) All such purchases involving the expenditure
of over [ten thousand dollars ($10,000)] twenty-five thousand <--
dollars ($25,000) the base amount of eighteen thousand five <--
hundred dollars ($18,500) subject to adjustment under subsection
(b.1) shall be in writing, and shall be made only after notice,
by one of the political subdivisions joining therein, once a
week for two weeks in one or more newspapers of general
circulation published in the political subdivision advertising
the same. All plans and specifications shall be placed on file
by each of the political subdivisions joining in such purchase
at least fifteen days in advance of opening bids.
(b) Written or telephonic price quotations from at least
three qualified and responsible contractors shall be requested
for all contracts that exceed [four thousand dollars ($4,000)]
seven thousand dollars ($7,000) the base amount of ten thousand <--
dollars ($10,000) subject to adjustment under subsection (b.1)
but are less than the amount requiring advertisement and
competitive bidding or, in lieu of price quotations, a
memorandum shall be kept on file showing that fewer than three
qualified contractors exist in the market area within which it
is practicable to obtain quotations. A written record of
telephonic price quotations shall be made and shall contain at
least the date of the quotation, the name of the contractor and
the contractor's representative, the construction,
reconstruction, repair, maintenance or work which was the
subject of the quotation and the price. Written price
quotations, written records of telephonic price quotations and
memoranda shall be retained for a period of three years.
(b.1) (1) Every five years, beginning with the year in <--
which this subsection becomes applicable to contracts and
purchases, the Department of Labor and Industry shall calculate
the average percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the United States city average
for all items as published by the United States Department of
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Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the preceding five-year
period.
(2) The amount at which competitive bidding is required
under subsection (a) and the amount at which written or
telephonic price quotations are required under subsection (b)
shall be adjusted every five years as follows:
(i) In the case of competitive bidding, the positive
percentage change, as determined in accordance with paragraph
(1), shall be multiplied by the amount applicable under
subsection (a) for the current five-year period and the product
thereof shall be added to the amount applicable under subsection
(a) for the current five-year period, with the result rounded to
the nearest multiple of one hundred dollars ($100).
(ii) In the case of written or telephonic price quotations,
the positive percentage change, as determined in accordance with
paragraph (1), shall be multiplied by the amount applicable
under subsection (b) for the current five-year period and the
product thereof shall be added to the amount applicable under
subsection (b) for the current five-year period, with the result
rounded to the nearest multiple of one hundred dollars ($100).
(3) The determination required under paragraph (1) and the
calculation of the adjustments required under paragraph (2)
shall be made in the period between October 1 and November 15 of
the year following the effective date of this subsection, and
between October 1 and November 15 of each successive year.
(4) The adjusted amounts obtained in accordance with
paragraph (2) shall become effective January 1 for the five-year
period following the year in which the determination required
under paragraph (1) is made.
(5) The Department of Labor and Industry shall give notice
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in the Pennsylvania Bulletin prior to January 1 of each calendar
year in which the percentage change determined in accordance
with paragraph (1) and the amounts, whether adjusted or
unadjusted in accordance with paragraph (2), at which
competitive bidding is required under subsection (a) and written
or telephonic price quotations are required under subsection (b)
for the five-year period beginning the first day of January
after publication of the notice.
(b.1) Adjustments to the base amounts specified under <--
subsections (a) and (b) 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
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 thousand dollars ($1,000), to determine the
final adjusted base amounts for purposes of subsections (a) and
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(b).
(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 thousand dollars ($1,000) to determine the new final
adjusted base amounts for purposes of subsections (a) and (b).
(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
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) and written or telephonic price quotations
are 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
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base amounts under this subsection for the ensuing calendar
year.
(8) No adjustment to the base amounts specified under
subsections (a) and (b) shall exceed three percent of the most
recently adjusted base amount.
(c) No county or municipal government shall evade the
provisions of this section as to advertising for bids or
purchasing materials or contracting for services piecemeal for
the purpose of obtaining prices under [ten thousand dollars
($10,000)] twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) the base <--
amount of eighteen thousand five hundred dollars ($18,500)
subject to adjustment under subsection (b.1) upon transactions
which should, in the exercise of reasonable discretion and
prudence, be conducted as one transaction amounting to more than
[ten thousand dollars ($10,000)] twenty-five thousand dollars <--
($25,000) the base amount of eighteen thousand five hundred <--
dollars ($18,500) subject to adjustment under subsection (b.1).
This provision is intended to make unlawful the practice of
evading advertising requirements by making a series of purchases
or contracts each for less than the advertising requirement
price or by making several simultaneous purchases or contracts
each below said price, when in either case the transaction
involved should have been made as one transaction for one price.
(d) Any member of a governing body of a county or
municipality who votes to unlawfully evade the provisions of
this section and who knows that the transaction upon which he so
votes is or ought to be a part of a larger transaction and that
it is being divided in order to evade the requirements as to
advertising for bids commits a misdemeanor of the third degree
for each contract entered into as a direct result of that vote.
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(e) Every contract for the construction, reconstruction,
alteration, repair, improvement or maintenance of public works
shall comply with the provisions of the act of March 3, 1978
(P.L.6, No.3), known as the "Steel Products Procurement Act."
Section 2. This act shall apply to contracts and purchases
advertised on or after January 1 of the year following the
effective date of this section.
Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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