THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY EICHELBERGER, KASUNIC, FOLMER, GORDNER, BOSCOLA, ORIE, RAFFERTY, YAW, M. WHITE, D. WHITE, ERICKSON, BAKER, ALLOWAY, BRUBAKER, GREENLEAF, SMUCKER, FERLO, ROBBINS, VANCE, EARLL, SCARNATI, McILHINNEY, PICCOLA AND BROWNE, JANUARY 26, 2011

SENATOR CORMAN, APPROPRIATIONS, IN SENATE, RE-REPORTED AS AMENDED, SEPTEMBER 20, 2011   

AN ACT

Amending the act of August 7, 1936 (1st Sp.Sess., P.L.106, No.

46), entitled, as reenacted and amended, "An act relating to

flood control; prescribing the powers and duties of the Water

and Power Resources Board of the Department of Forests and

Waters in relation to the creation of flood control

districts, adoption of plans for flood control works and

improvements, carrying into effect of such plans, assistance,

aid and cooperation with public and private agencies and the

Federal Government in Federal flood control works and

improvements, and entering into compacts and agreements with

other states for flood control works and improvements;

conferring the power of eminent domain; providing for the

setting off of benefits; imposing certain charges upon the

Commonwealth; providing for appeals; and conferring certain

powers on municipalities, counties, and townships, and the

Department of Highways," further providing for contracts and

acquisition of property; and providing for adjustment and for

evasion of advertising requirements.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 10 of the act of August 7, 1936 (1st

Sp.Sess., P.L.106, No.46), referred to as the Flood Control Law,

reenacted and amended March 10, 1937 (P.L.43, No.18) and amended

December 22, 1981 (P.L.551, No.162), is amended to read:

Section 10.  Contracts and Acquisition of Property.--All work

of any character whatever performed by the board under the

authority of this act, except as hereinafter provided, in

connection with any State public flood control works and

improvements, involving an expenditure of more than [four

thousand dollars] twenty-five thousand a base amount of eighteen

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thousand five hundred dollars subject to adjustment under

section 10.1, shall be performed under written contract let by

the board to the lowest responsible bidder after due

advertisement as prescribed by the board; except, however, that

the board may, with the approval of the Governor, enter into

contracts or agreements, without advertisement, with any person,

corporation or municipality, covering the removal or relocation

of gas, water, and telephone, telegraph, electric light, and

electric power lines, highways, railroads, or other facilities,

and providing therein for said removal or relocation by the

person, corporation or municipality owning such facility. The

board may, with the approval of the Governor, acquire any

necessary easements and rights-of-way and may pay all costs and

damages necessary, arising from and incidental to said removal

or relocation. Payment shall be made from the General Fund

Appropriations for Flood Control Projects.

The board may sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of all

property, real, personal or mixed, acquired under the provisions

of this act, not needed by the Commonwealth for reservoir or

flood control purposes, subject to the approval of the Governor.

The moneys received through such sale, lease or other

disposition shall accrue to the General Fund.

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.  The act is amended by adding sections to read:

Section 10.1.  Adjustment.--(a) Every five years, beginning

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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 Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the

preceding five-year period.

(b)  The amount at which competitive bidding is required

under section 10 shall be adjusted every five years. The

positive percentage change, as determined in accordance with

subsection (a), shall be multiplied by the amount applicable

under section 10 for the current five-year period and the

product thereof shall be added to the amount applicable under

section 10 for the current five-year period, with the result

rounded to the nearest multiple of one hundred dollars.

(c)  The 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

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 five-

year period 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 in which the 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 10 for the five-

year period beginning the first day of January after publication

of the notice.

Section 10.2.  Evasion of Advertising Requirements.--No board

member shall evade the provisions of section 10 as to

advertising for bids, by purchasing or contracting for services

and personal properties piecemeal to obtain prices under the

required advertising price, subject to adjustment under section

10.1. 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 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

board members 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 percent of the full amount of the contract or purchase.

Whenever it shall appear that a board member may have voted in

violation of this section, but the purchase or contract on which

the member so voted was not approved by the board, this section

shall be inapplicable. Adjustments.--(a)  Adjustments to the

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base amounts specified under section 10 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, to determine the final

adjusted base amounts for purposes of section 10.

(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 to determine the new final adjusted base

amounts for purposes of section 10.

(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 this subsection 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 base amounts under this subsection

for the ensuing calendar year.

(8)  No adjustment to the base amounts specified under

section 10 shall exceed three percent of the most recently

adjusted base amount.

Section 3.  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 4.  This act shall take effect immediately.