Bill Text: PA SB322 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: An Act amending the act of May 27, 1953 (P.L.244, No.34), entitled "An act relating to and regulating the contracts of incorporated towns and providing penalties," further providing for regulation of contracts; providing for annual adjustment; further providing for evasion of advertising requirements, for contracts between $750 and $10,000 and for separate bids for plumbing, heating, ventilating and electrical work.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 19-6)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-03-30 - Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS [SB322 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-SB322-Introduced.html

---

PRINTER'S NO. 320
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 322 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY GORDNER, MUSTO, SCARNATI, EICHELBERGER, ROBBINS, STOUT, FOLMER, ORIE, SMUCKER, BROWNE, PICCOLA, BRUBAKER, CORMAN, KASUNIC, EARLL, RAFFERTY, ERICKSON, WONDERLING, M. WHITE, GREENLEAF, PIPPY, ALLOWAY, BOSCOLA, O'PAKE AND FERLO, FEBRUARY 20, 2009
REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 20, 2009
AN ACT
Amending the act of May 27, 1953 (P.L.244, No.34), entitled "An
act relating to and regulating the contracts of incorporated
towns and providing penalties," further providing for
regulation of contracts; providing for annual adjustment;
further providing for evasion of advertising requirements,
for contracts between $750 and $10,000 and for separate bids
for plumbing, heating, ventilating and electrical work.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 2(a) of the act of May 27, 1953 (P.L.244,
No.34), entitled "An act relating to and regulating the
contracts of incorporated towns and providing penalties,"
amended July 10, 1990 (P.L.392, No.93), is amended to read:
Section 2. Regulation of Contracts.--(a) All contracts or
purchases of incorporated towns in excess of [ten thousand
dollars] twenty-five thousand dollars subject to annual
adjustment under section 2.1, except those hereinafter
mentioned, shall not be made except with and from the lowest
responsible bidder, after due notice in one newspaper of general
circulation published or circulated in the county in which the
town is situated at least three times at intervals of not less
than three days where daily newspapers of general circulation
are available for such publication, and in case of weekly
newspapers shall be published once a week for two successive
weeks. The first advertisement shall be published not less than
ten days prior to the date fixed for the opening of bids. The
amount of the contract shall in all cases, whether of straight
sale price, conditional sale, bailment lease or otherwise, be
the entire amount which the town pays to the successful bidder
or his assigns in order to obtain the services or property or
both, and shall not be construed to mean only the amount which
is paid to acquire title or to receive any other particular
benefit or benefits of the whole bargain.
* * *
Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 2.1. Annual Adjustment.--(a) Annually, beginning
with the year in which this subsection becomes applicable to
contracts and purchases, the Department of Labor and Industry
shall calculate the 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 Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the twelve-
month average ending in September of the prior year.
(b) The amount at which competitive bidding is required
under section 2(a) and the amount at which written or telephonic
price quotations are required under section 3.1 shall be
adjusted annually as follows:
(1) In the case of competitive bidding, the positive
percentage change, as determined in accordance with subsection
20090SB0322PN0320 - 2 -
(a), shall be multiplied by the amount applicable under section
2 for the current year and the product thereof shall be added to
the amount applicable under section 2 for the current year, with
the result rounded to the nearest multiple of ten dollars.
(2) In the case of written or telephonic price quotations,
the positive percentage change, as determined in accordance with
subsection (a), shall be multiplied by the amount applicable
under section 3.1 for the current year and the product thereof
shall be added to the amount applicable under section 3.1 for
the current year, with the result rounded to the nearest
multiple of ten dollars.
(c) The annual determination required under subsection (a)
and the calculation of the adjustments required under subsection
(b) shall be made in the period between October 1 and November
15 of the year following the effective date of this section, and
annually between October 1 and November 15 of each successive
year.
(d) The adjusted amounts obtained in accordance with
subsection (b) shall become effective January 1 for the calendar
year following the year in which the determination required
under subsection (a) is made.
(e) The Department of Labor and Industry shall give notice
in the Pennsylvania Bulletin prior to January 1 of each calendar
year of the annual percentage change determined in accordance
with subsection (a), and the amounts, whether adjusted or
unadjusted in accordance with subsection (b), at which
competitive bidding is required under section 2 and written or
telephonic price quotations are required under section 3.1 for
the calendar year beginning the first day of January after
publication of the notice.
20090SB0322PN0320 - 3 -
Section 3. Section 3 of the act, amended July 10, 1990 (P.L.
392, No.93), is amended to read:
Section 3. Evasion of Advertising Requirements.--(a) No
member or members of council shall evade the provisions of
Section two hereof by purchasing or contracting for services and
personal properties piecemeal for the purpose of obtaining
prices under [ten thousand dollars] twenty-five thousand dollars
subject to annual adjustment under section 2.1 upon transactions
which transaction should, in the exercise of reasonable
discretion and prudence, be conducted as one transaction
amounting to more than [ten thousand dollars] twenty-five
thousand dollars subject to annual adjustment under section 2.1.
This provision is intended to make unlawful the evading of
advertising requirements by making a series of purchases or
contracts each for less than the advertising requirement of
price, or by making several simultaneous purchases or contracts
each below said price, when, in either case, the transactions
involved should have been made as one transaction for one price.
Any members of council who so vote in violation of this
provision and who know that the transaction upon which they so
vote 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 shall be jointly and severally subject to
surcharge for ten per centum of the full amount of the contract
or purchase.
(b) Whenever it shall appear that a member of council may
have voted in violation of this section but the purchase or
contract on which he so voted was not approved by council, this
section shall be inapplicable.
(c) Any council member who votes to unlawfully evade the
20090SB0322PN0320 - 4 -
provisions of section 2 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. This penalty shall be in addition to any
surcharge which may be assessed pursuant to subsection (a).
Section 4. Section 3.1 of the act, amended July 10, 1990
(P.L.392, No.93) and repealed in part December 18, 1996 (P.L.
1140, No.170), is amended to read:
Section 3.1. Contracts between Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars
and [Ten thousand] Twenty-five Thousand Dollars; Written 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] seven
thousand dollars subject to annual adjustment under section 2.1
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.
Section 5. Section 5 of the act, amended July 10, 1990 (P.L.
392, No.93), is amended to read:
20090SB0322PN0320 - 5 -
Section 5. Separate Bids for Plumbing, Heating, Ventilating
and Electrical Work.--In the preparation for the erection,
construction and alteration of any public building of an
incorporated town, when the entire cost of such work shall
exceed [ten thousand dollars] twenty-five thousand dollars
subject to annual adjustment under section 2.1, the architect,
engineer or other person preparing such specifications shall
prepare separate specifications for the plumbing, heating,
ventilating and electrical work. The person or persons
authorized to enter into contracts for the erection,
construction or alteration of such public buildings shall
receive separate bids upon each of the said branches of work and
award the contract for the same to the lowest responsible bidder
for each of said branches.
Section 6. 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 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
20090SB0322PN0320 - 6 -