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Introduced Version House Bill 2576 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2576


          (By Delegates Kump, Folk and Faircloth)
          [Introduced February 20, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Energy, Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small Business then the Judiciary.]



A BILL to repeal §21-5A-1, §21-5A-2, §21-5A-3, §21-5A-5, §21-5A-6, §21-5A-7, §21-5A-8, §21-5A-9, §21-5A-10 and §21-5A-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §7-11B-14 of said code; to amend and reenact §7-20-22 of said code; to amend and reenact §17-27-16 of said code; to amend and reenact §17-28-9 of said code; and to amend and reenact §18-5-9a of said code, all relating to repealing requirements that prevailing wages be paid in connection with the construction of public improvements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     That §21-5A-1, §21-5A-2, §21-5A-3, §21-5A-5, §21-5A-6, §21-5A-7, §21-5A-8, §21-5A-9, §21-5A-10 and §21-5A-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be repealed; that §7-11B-14 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §7-20-22 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §17-27-16 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §17-28-9 of said code be amended and reenacted; and that §18-5-9a of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.

ARTICLE 11B. WEST VIRGINIA TAX INCREMENT FINANCING ACT.
§7-11B-14. Projects financed by tax increment financing considered to be public improvements subject to
prevailing wage, local labor preference and competitive bid requirements.
     (a) Any project acquired, constructed, or financed, in whole or in part, by a county commission or municipality under this article shall be is considered to be a "public improvement" within the meaning of the provisions of articles article one-c, and five-a chapter twenty-one of this code.
     (b) The county commission or municipality shall, except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, solicit or require solicitation of competitive bids and require the payment of prevailing wage rates as provided in article five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code and compliance with article one-c of said chapter twenty-one of this code for every project or infrastructure project funded pursuant to this article exceeding $25,000 in total cost.
     (c) Following the solicitation of the bids, the construction contract shall be awarded to the lowest qualified responsible bidder, who shall furnish a sufficient performance and payment bond: Provided, That the county commission, municipality or other person soliciting the bids may reject all bids and solicit new bids on the project.
     (d) No officer or employee of this state or of any public agency, public authority, public corporation, or other public entity, and no person acting or purporting to act on behalf of such the officer or employee or public entity shall may require that any performance bond, payment bond, or bid bond required or permitted by this section be obtained from any particular surety company, agent, broker or producer.
     (e) This section does not:
     (1) Apply to work performed on construction projects not exceeding a total cost of $50,000 by regular full-time employees of the county commission or the municipality: Provided, That no more than $50,000 shall may be expended on an individual project in a single location in a twelve-month period;
     (2) Prevent students enrolled in vocational educational schools from being used in construction or repair projects when such the use is a part of the students' training program;
     (3) Apply to emergency repairs to building components and systems: Provided, That the term "emergency repairs" means repairs that, if not made immediately, will seriously impair the use of the building components and systems or cause danger to those persons using the building components and systems; or
     (4) Apply to any situation where the county commission or municipality comes to an agreement with volunteers, or a volunteer group, by which the governmental body will provide construction or repair materials, architectural, engineering, technical or any other professional services and the volunteers will provide the necessary labor without charge to, or liability upon, the governmental body: Provided, That the total cost of the construction or repair projects does not exceed $50,000.
     (f) The provisions of subsection (b) of this section apply to privately owned projects or infrastructure projects constructed on lands not owned by the county commission, a municipality or a government agency or instrumentality when the owner or the owner's agent or person financing the owner's project receives money from the tax increment financing fund for the owner's project.
ARTICLE 20. FEES AND EXPENDITURES FOR COUNTY DEVELOPMENT.
§7-20-22. Special infrastructure projects financed by service fee considered to be public improvements subject to
prevailing wage, local labor preference and competitive bid requirements.
     (a) Any special infrastructure project acquired, constructed or financed, in whole or in part, by service fees imposed by a county commission under section twelve of this article shall be considered to be is a "public improvement" within the meaning of the provisions of articles article one-c, and five-a chapter twenty-one of this code.
     (b) The county commission shall, except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, solicit or require solicitation of competitive bids and require the payment of prevailing wage rates as provided in article five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code and compliance with article one-c, of said chapter twenty-one of this code for any special infrastructure project funded pursuant to section twelve of this article exceeding $25,000 in total cost.
     (c) Following the solicitation of the bids, the construction contract shall be awarded to the lowest qualified responsible bidder, who shall furnish a sufficient performance and payment bond: Provided, That the county commission or other person soliciting the bids may reject all bids and solicit new bids on the project.
     (d) No officer or employee of this state or of any public agency, public authority, public corporation or other public entity and no person acting or purporting to act on behalf of such the officer or employee or public entity shall may require that any performance bond, payment bond or bid bond required or permitted by this section be obtained from any particular surety company, agent, broker or producer.
     (e) This section does not:
     (1) Apply to work performed on construction projects not exceeding a total cost of $50,000 by regular full-time employees of the county commission: Provided, That no more than $50,000 shall may be expended on an individual project in a single location in a twelve-month period;
     (2) Prevent students enrolled in vocational educational schools from being used in construction or repair projects when such the use is a part of the students' training program;
     (3) Apply to emergency repairs to building components and systems: Provided, That the term "emergency repairs" means repairs that, if not made immediately, will seriously impair the use of the building components and systems or cause danger to those persons using the building components and systems; or
     (4) Apply to any situation where the county commission comes to an agreement with volunteers, or a volunteer group, by which the county commission will provide construction or repair materials, architectural, engineering, technical or any other professional services and the volunteers will provide the necessary labor without charge to, or liability upon, the county commission: Provided, That the total cost of the construction or repair projects does not exceed $50,000.
CHAPTER 17. ROADS AND HIGHWAYS.

ARTICLE 27. PUBLIC-PRIVATE TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES ACT.
§17-27-16. Qualifying a transportation facility
as a public improvement subject to competitive bidding.
_____
All qualifying transportation facilities authorized under this article are public improvements and are subject to article five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code. Article twenty-two, chapter five of this code applies to all qualifying transportation facilities authorized under this article. All construction, reconstruction, repair or improvement of qualifying transportation facilities authorized under this article shall be awarded by competitive bidding. Competitive bids shall be solicited by the division for each construction contract in excess of $25,000 in total cost. Construction costs should be of sufficient size that the performance and payment bonds are in the $10 million to $30 million range, where possible. Competitive bids shall be solicited by the division through publication of a Class II legal advertisement, in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code. and The publication area is the county or municipality in which the transportation facility is to be located. The advertisement shall also be published as a Class II advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation published in the city of Charleston. The advertisement shall solicit sealed proposals for the construction of the transportation facility, stating the time and place for the opening of bids. All bids shall be publicly opened and read aloud. Construction contracts shall be awarded to the lowest qualified responsible bidder, who shall furnish a sufficient performance or payment bond: Provided, That both the division and the private entity have the right to reject all bids and solicit new bids for the construction contract. The provisions of article one-c, chapter twenty-one of this code apply to the construction of all qualifying transportation facilities approved under this article.
ARTICLE 28. WEST VIRGINIA COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT TRANSPORTATION ACT.
§17-28-9. Qualifying a transportation project
as a public improvement subject to competitive bidding.
_____
All transportation projects authorized under this article are public improvements and are subject to article five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code. Article twenty-two, chapter five of this code applies to all transportation projects authorized under this article. All construction, reconstruction, repair or improvement of transportation projects under this article will shall be awarded by competitive bidding. Competitive bids are to shall be solicited by the governmental entity sponsoring a transportation project for each construction contract in excess of $25,000 in total cost. Competitive bids must shall be solicited by the sponsoring governmental entity through publication of a Class II legal advertisement, as required by article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code. and The publication area is the county or municipality where the transportation facility is to be located. The advertisement must also shall be published as a Class II advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation published in the city of Charleston. The advertisement is to include the solicitations of sealed proposals for the construction of the transportation project, stating the time and place for the opening of bids. All bids will shall be publicly opened and read aloud. Construction contracts must shall be awarded to the lowest qualified responsible bidder, who furnishes a sufficient performance or payment bond. The sponsoring governmental entity has the right to may reject all bids and solicit new bids for the construction contract. Article one-c, chapter twenty-one of this code applies to the construction of all transportation projects approved under this article.
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.

ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-9a. Energy-savings contracts.
     (a) For the purposes of this section:
     (1) "Energy-conservation measures" means goods or services, or both, to reduce energy consumption operating costs of school facilities. These include, but are not limited to, installation of two or more of the following:
     (A) Insulation of a building structure and systems within a building;
     (B) Storm windows or doors, caulking or weather stripping, multi-glazed windows or doors, heat-absorbing or heat-reflective glazed and coated window or door systems or other window or door modifications that reduce energy consumption;
     (C) Automatic energy control systems;
     (D) Heating, ventilating or air conditioning systems, including modifications or replacements;
     (E) Replacement or modification of lighting fixtures to increase energy efficiency;
     (F) Energy recovery systems;
     (G) Cogeneration systems that produce steam or another form of energy for use by the county board of education in a building or complex of buildings owned by the board of education; or
     (H) Energy-conservation maintenance measures that provide long-term operating cost reductions of the building's present cost of operation.
     (2) "Energy-savings contract" means a contract for the evaluation and recommendation of energy operations conservation measures and for implementation of one or more such measures. The contract shall provide that payments, except obligations upon termination of the contract before its expiration, are to be made over time. A county board of education may supplement these payments with federal, state or local funds to reduce the annual cost or to lower the initial amount to be financed.
     (3) "Qualified provider" means a person, firm or corporation experienced in the design, implementation and installation of energy-conservation measures.
     (b) County boards of education are hereby authorized to may enter into performance-based contracts with qualified providers of energy-conservation measures for the purpose of reducing energy operating costs of school buildings.
     (c) A board of education may enter into an energy-savings contract with a qualified provider to significantly reduce energy operating costs. Before entering into such a contract or before the installation of equipment, modifications or remodeling to be furnished under such a the contract, the qualified provider shall first issue a proposal summarizing the scope of work to be performed. Such a The proposal shall contain estimates of all costs of installation, modifications or remodeling including the costs of design, engineering, installation, maintenance, repairs or debt service as well as estimates of the amounts by which energy operating costs will be reduced. If the board finds, after receiving the proposal, that the proposal includes more than one energy-conservation measure designed to save energy operating costs, the board may enter into a contract with the provider pursuant to this section.
     (d) An energy-savings contract shall include the following:
     (1) A guarantee of a specific minimum amount of money that the board will save in energy operating costs each year during the term of the contract; and
     (2) A statement of all costs of energy-conservation measures including the costs of design, engineering, installation, maintenance, repairs and operations.
     (e) An energy-savings contract which is performance-based and includes a guarantee of savings and a comprehensive approach of energy-conservation measures for improving comfort is subject to competitive bidding requirements. The requirements of article five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code as to prevailing wage rates shall apply to the construction and installation work performed under such a contract.
     (f) A board may enter into a "lease with an option to purchase" contract for the purchase and installation of energy-conservation measures if the term of the lease does not exceed fifteen years and the lease contract includes the provisions hereinafter contained in subsection (g) of this section and meets federal tax requirements for tax-exempt municipal leasing or long-term financing.
     (g) An energy-savings contract may extend beyond the fiscal year in which it first becomes effective except that such the a contract may not exceed a fifteen-year term and shall be is void unless such the agreement provides the board the option to terminate the agreement during each fiscal year of the contract. The board may include in its annual budget for each fiscal year any amounts payable under long-term energy-savings contracts during that fiscal year.
     (h) Nothing contained in This section requires or permits does not require or permit the replacement of jobs performed by service personnel employed by the local school board pursuant to sections eight and eight-a, article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code, as amended.



     NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to repeal requirements that prevailing wages be paid in connection with the construction of public improvements.

     Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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