| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public works projects; providing |
| 3 | definitions; prohibiting the state and political |
| 4 | subdivisions that contract for the construction, |
| 5 | maintenance, repair, or improvement of public works from |
| 6 | imposing certain conditions on certain contractors, |
| 7 | subcontractors, or material suppliers or carriers; |
| 8 | providing an exception; prohibiting the state and |
| 9 | political subdivisions from restricting qualified bidders |
| 10 | from submitting bids, being awarded any bid or contract, |
| 11 | or performing work on a public works project; amending s. |
| 12 | 120.57, F.S.; revising written protest filing requirements |
| 13 | for protests to contract solicitations or awards; |
| 14 | providing an effective date. |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Section 1. (1) As used in this section, the term: |
| 19 | (a) "Political subdivision" means a separate agency or |
| 20 | unit of local government created or established by law or |
| 21 | ordinance and the officers thereof and includes, but is not |
| 22 | limited to, a county, city, town, or other municipality, |
| 23 | department, commission, authority, school district, tax |
| 24 | district, water management district, board, public corporation, |
| 25 | institution of higher education, or other public agency or body |
| 26 | authorized to expend public funds for construction, maintenance, |
| 27 | repair, or improvement of public works. |
| 28 | (b) "Project labor agreement" means an arrangement |
| 29 | mentioned, detailed, or outlined within the project plans, |
| 30 | specifications, or any bidding documents of a public works |
| 31 | project that: |
| 32 | 1. Imposes requirements, controls, or limitations on |
| 33 | staffing, sources of employee referrals, assignments of work, |
| 34 | sources of insurance or benefits, including health, life, and |
| 35 | disability insurance and retirement pensions, training programs |
| 36 | or standards, or wages; or |
| 37 | 2. Requires a contractor to enter into any sort of |
| 38 | agreement as a condition of submitting a bid that directly or |
| 39 | indirectly limits or requires the contractor to recruit, train, |
| 40 | or hire employees from a particular source to perform work on |
| 41 | public works or a public works project. |
| 42 | (c) "Public works" or "public works project" means a |
| 43 | building, road, street, sewer, storm drain, water system, |
| 44 | irrigation system, reclamation project, gas or electrical |
| 45 | distribution system, gas or electrical substation, or other |
| 46 | facility, project, or portion thereof, including repair, |
| 47 | renovation, or remodeling, owned, in whole or in part by any |
| 48 | political subdivision, and that is to be paid for in whole or in |
| 49 | part with state funds. |
| 50 | (2)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), or as required |
| 51 | by federal or state law, the state or any political subdivision |
| 52 | that contracts for the construction, maintenance, repair, or |
| 53 | improvement of public works shall not require that a contractor, |
| 54 | subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier engaged in the |
| 55 | construction, maintenance, repair, or improvement of public |
| 56 | works: |
| 57 | 1. Pay employees a predetermined amount of wages or wage |
| 58 | rate; |
| 59 | 2. Provide employees a specified type, amount, or rate of |
| 60 | employee benefits; |
| 61 | 3. Control or limit staffing; |
| 62 | 4. Recruit, train, or hire employees from a designated or |
| 63 | single source; |
| 64 | 5. Designate any particular assignment of work for |
| 65 | employees; |
| 66 | 6. Participate in proprietary training programs; or |
| 67 | 7. Enter into any type of project labor agreement. |
| 68 | (b) Paragraph (a) does not apply if the payment of |
| 69 | prevailing or minimum wages to persons working on projects |
| 70 | funded in whole or in part by federal funds is required under |
| 71 | federal law. |
| 72 | (3) The state or any political subdivision that contracts |
| 73 | for the construction, maintenance, repair, or improvement of |
| 74 | public works shall not require that a contractor, subcontractor, |
| 75 | material supplier, or carrier engaged in the construction, |
| 76 | maintenance, repair, or improvement of public works execute or |
| 77 | otherwise become a party to any agreement with employees, their |
| 78 | representatives, or any labor organization as described in 29 |
| 79 | U.S.C. s. 152(5) and 42 U.S.C. s. 2000e(d), including any |
| 80 | areawide, regional, or state building or construction trade or |
| 81 | crafts council, organization, association, or similar body, as a |
| 82 | condition of bidding, negotiating, being awarded any bid or |
| 83 | contract, or performing work on a public works project. |
| 84 | (4) The state or any political subdivision that contracts |
| 85 | for the construction, maintenance, repair, or improvement of any |
| 86 | public works project shall not prohibit a contractor, |
| 87 | subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier engaged in the |
| 88 | construction, maintenance, repair, or improvement of public |
| 89 | works, who is qualified, licensed, or certified to do any of the |
| 90 | work described in the bid documents, from submitting bids, being |
| 91 | awarded any bid or contract, or performing work on a public |
| 92 | works project. |
| 93 | Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section |
| 94 | 120.57, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 95 | 120.57 Additional procedures for particular cases.- |
| 96 | (3) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES APPLICABLE TO PROTESTS TO |
| 97 | CONTRACT SOLICITATION OR AWARD.-Agencies subject to this chapter |
| 98 | shall use the uniform rules of procedure, which provide |
| 99 | procedures for the resolution of protests arising from the |
| 100 | contract solicitation or award process. Such rules shall at |
| 101 | least provide that: |
| 102 | (b) Any person who is adversely affected by the agency |
| 103 | decision or intended decision shall file with the agency a |
| 104 | notice of protest in writing within 72 hours after the posting |
| 105 | of the notice of decision or intended decision. With respect to |
| 106 | a protest of the terms, conditions, and specifications contained |
| 107 | in a solicitation, including any provisions governing the |
| 108 | methods for ranking bids, proposals, or replies, awarding |
| 109 | contracts, reserving rights of further negotiation, or modifying |
| 110 | or amending any contract, the notice of protest shall be filed |
| 111 | in writing within 7 days 72 hours after the posting of the |
| 112 | solicitation. The formal written protest shall be filed within |
| 113 | 10 days after the date the notice of protest is filed. Failure |
| 114 | to file a notice of protest or failure to file a formal written |
| 115 | protest shall constitute a waiver of proceedings under this |
| 116 | chapter. The formal written protest shall state with |
| 117 | particularity the facts and law upon which the protest is based. |
| 118 | Saturdays, Sundays, and state holidays shall be excluded in the |
| 119 | computation of the 72-hour time periods provided by this |
| 120 | paragraph. |
| 121 | Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |