PRINTER'S NO. 680
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
710
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY STAMBAUGH, DIAMOND, JAMES, KEEFER, KINKEAD,
MILLARD, MOUL, RYAN, SMITH AND ZIMMERMAN, MARCH 1, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, MARCH 1, 2021
AN ACT
Amending the act of May 1, 1913 (P.L.155, No.104), entitled, "An
act regulating the letting of certain contracts for the
erection, construction, and alteration of public buildings,"
increasing the minimum bid requirement; and providing for
evasion of requirements.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 1 of the act of May 1, 1913 (P.L.155,
No.104), referred to as the Separations Act, is amended to read:
Section 1. (a) Be it enacted, &c., That hereafter in the
preparation of specifications for the erection, construction,
and alteration of any public building, when the entire cost of
such work shall exceed [four thousand dollars] two hundred fifty
thousand dollars, subject to annual adjustment under subsection
(b), it shall be the duty of the architect, engineer, or other
person preparing such specifications, to prepare separate
specifications for the plumbing, heating, ventilating, and
electrical work; and it shall be the duty of the person or
persons authorized to enter into contracts for the erection,
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construction, or alteration of such public buildings to receive
separate bids upon each of the said branches of work, and to
award the contract for the same to the lowest responsible bidder
for each of said branches.
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."
(b) Adjustments to the threshold specified under subsection
(a) shall be made as follows:
(1) The Department of Labor and Industry shall determine the
percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers: All Items (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, 2021, and for each successive twelve-month period
thereafter.
(2) If the Department of Labor and Industry determines that
there is no positive percentage change, no adjustment to the
threshold amount shall occur for the relevant time period.
(3) (i) If the Department of Labor and Industry determines
that there is a positive percentage change in the first year the
determination is made under paragraph (1), the positive
percentage change shall be multiplied by the threshold amount,
and the product shall be added to the base threshold amount,
and the sum shall be the preliminary adjusted amount.
(ii) The preliminary adjusted amount shall be rounded to the
nearest one hundred dollars to determine the final adjusted
threshold amount for purposes of subsection (a).
(4) In each successive year in which there is a positive
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percentage change in the CPI-U for the United States City
Average, the positive percentage change shall be multiplied by
the most recent threshold amount, and the product shall be added
to the threshold amount of the prior year to calculate the
preliminary adjusted amount for the current year. The sum shall
be rounded to the nearest one hundred dollars to determine the
new final adjusted threshold amount for purposes of subsection
(a).
(5) The determinations and adjustments required under this
subsection shall be made in the period between October 1 and
November 15, 2021, and annually between October 1 and November
15 of each year thereafter.
(6) The final adjusted threshold amount and new final
adjusted threshold amount 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 of Labor and Industry shall transmit
notice to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in
the Pennsylvania Bulletin prior to January 1 of each calendar
year of the annual percentage change determined under paragraph
(1) and the final adjusted threshold amount 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 of
Labor and Industry in establishing the unadjusted or final
adjusted threshold amount.
Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 1.1. No person shall evade the provisions of section
1 by purchasing or contracting for services and personal
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properties piecemeal to obtain prices under the required
advertising price, subject to annual adjustment under section
1(b). This section is intended to make unlawful the making of a
series of purchases or contracts each for less than the price to
which section 1 applies, or by making several simultaneous
purchases or contracts, each for less than the advertising
requirement price, when in either case, the transactions
involved should have been made as one transaction for one price.
A person who violates this provision, and who knows that the
transaction in question is or ought to be a part of a larger
transaction and that it is being divided in order to evade the
requirements of section 1, shall be, jointly and severally,
subject to surcharge for ten per centum of the full amount of
the contract or purchase.
Section 3. This act shall apply to contracts and purchases
advertised on or after the effective date of this act.
Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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