THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY WAUGH, 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 YAW, URBAN AFFAIRS AND HOUSING, AS AMENDED, MAY 4, 2011   

AN ACT

Amending the act of May 28, 1937 (P.L.955, No.265), entitled, as

amended, "An act to promote public health, safety, morals,

and welfare by declaring the necessity of creating public

bodies, corporate and politic, to be known as housing

authorities to engage in slum clearance, and to undertake

projects, to provide dwelling accommodations for persons of

low income; providing for the organization of such housing

authorities; defining their powers and duties; providing for

the exercise of such powers, including the acquisition of

property by purchase, gift or eminent domain, the renting and

selling of property, and including borrowing money, issuing

bonds, and other obligations, and giving security therefor;

prescribing the remedies of obligees of housing authorities;

authorizing housing authorities to enter into agreements,

including agreements with the United States, the

Commonwealth, and political subdivisions and municipalities

thereof; defining the application of zoning, sanitary, and

building laws and regulations to projects built or maintained

by such housing authorities; exempting the property and

securities of such housing authorities from taxation; and

imposing duties and conferring powers upon the State Planning

Board, and certain other State officers and departments,"

further providing for awards of contracts, completion bond,

additional bond for protection of materialmen and others.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 11 of the act of May 28, 1937 (P.L.955,

No.265), known as the Housing Authorities Law, amended May 20,

1949 (P.L.1614, No.486), February 16, 1990 (P.L.67, No.13) and

November 21, 1990 (P.L.569, No.143), is amended to read:

Section 11.  Awards of Contracts; Completion Bond; Additional

Bond for Protection of Materialmen and Others.--

(a)  Whenever the estimated cost of any construction,

erection, installation, completion, alteration, repair of, or

addition to, any project subject to the control of any Authority

shall exceed [ten thousand ($10,000) dollars] twenty-five

thousand ($25,000) dollars subject to adjustment under

subsection (b.3) (b.4), it shall be the duty of said Authority

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to have such work performed pursuant to a contract awarded to

the lowest responsible bidder, after advertisement for bids.

Every such contract shall contain a provision obligating the

contractor to the prompt payment of all material furnished,

labor supplied or performed, rental for equipment employed, and

services rendered by public utilities in or in connection with

the prosecution of the work, whether or not the said material,

labor, equipment or service enter into and become component

parts of the work or improvement contemplated. Such provision

shall be deemed to be included for the benefit of every person,

copartnership, association or corporation who, as subcontractor

or otherwise, has furnished material, supplied or performed

labor, rented equipment or services in or in connection with the

prosecution of the work as aforesaid, and the inclusion thereof

in any contract shall preclude the filing by any such person,

copartnership, association or corporation of any mechanics' lien

claim for such material, labor or rental of equipment.

(b)  Whenever the estimated cost of any purchase of supplies,

materials or equipment or the rental of any equipment, whether

or not the same is to be used in connection with the

construction, erection, installation, completion, alteration,

repair of, or addition to, any project subject to the control of

any Authority, shall exceed [ten thousand ($10,000) dollars] 

twenty-five thousand ($25,000) dollars subject to adjustment

under subsection (b.3) (b.4), it shall be the duty of such

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Authority to have such purchase or rental made pursuant to a

contract awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, after

advertisement for bids, such advertisement to be inserted in a

newspaper of general circulation within the county in which the

Authority operates.

(b.1)  An authority shall not evade the provisions of

subsection (a) or (b) as to advertising for bids by purchasing

materials or contracting for services piecemeal for the purpose

of obtaining prices under [ten thousand ($10,000) dollars] 

twenty-five thousand ($25,000) dollars subject to adjustment

under subsection (b.3) (b.4) upon transactions which should, in

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the exercise of reasonable discretion and prudence, be conducted

as one transaction amounting to more than [ten thousand

($10,000) dollars] twenty-five thousand ($25,000) dollars

subject to adjustment under subsection (b.3) (b.4). This

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provision is intended to make unlawful the practice of evading

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.

(b.2)  Written or telephonic price quotations from at least

three qualified and responsible contractors shall be requested

for all contracts that exceed [four thousand ($4,000) dollars] 

seven thousand ($7,000) dollars subject to adjustment under

subsection (b.3) (b.4) but are less than the amount requiring

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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.

(b.3)  Contracts or purchases involving the expenditure of

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more than ten thousand ($10,000) dollars but less than twenty-

five thousand ($25,000) dollars under this section shall be

posted on the Authority's Internet website and in the place

where the Authority normally meets or other conspicuous place

for fourteen (14) business days prior to obtaining any bid or

price quotation for the contract or purchase.

(b.3) (b.4)  (1)  Every five years, beginning with the year

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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.

(2)  The amount at which competitive bidding is required

under subsection (a) and the amount at which written or

telephonic price quotations are required under subsection (b.2)

shall be adjusted every five years as follows:

(i)  In the case of competitive bidding, the positive

percentage change, as determined in accordance with clause (1),

shall be multiplied by the amount applicable under subsection

(a) for the current year and the product thereof shall be added

to the amount applicable under subsection (a) for the five-year

period, with the result rounded to the nearest multiple of one

hundred ($100) thousand ($1,000) dollars.

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(ii)  In the case of written or telephonic price quotations,

the positive percentage change, as determined in accordance with

clause (1), shall be multiplied by the amount applicable under

subsection (b.2) for the five-year period and the product

thereof shall be added to the amount applicable under subsection

(b.2) for the five-year period, with the result rounded to the

nearest multiple of one hundred ($100) thousand ($1,000) 

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dollars.

(3)  The determination required under clause (1) and the

calculation of the adjustments required under clause (2) shall

be made in the period between October 1 and November 15 of the

year following the effective date of this subsection, and

between October 1 and November 15 of each successive year.

(4)  The adjusted amounts obtained in accordance with clause

(2) shall become effective January 1 for the five-year period

following the year in which the determination required under

clause (1) is made.

(5)  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 clause (1) and the amounts, whether adjusted or unadjusted

in accordance with clause (2), at which competitive bidding is

required under subsection (a) and written or telephonic price

quotations are required under subsection (b.2) for the five-year

period beginning the first day of January after publication of

the notice.

(c)  A housing authority shall require as a condition of the

award of any contract, pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this

section, that the contractor give to the Authority any bond

(including bonds for the performance of the contract, and for

the prompt payment by the contractor for material, supplies,

labor, services and equipment) which are prescribed by law for

contracts awarded by cities or counties, as the case may be, of

the same class as the city or county for which such Authority

has been created.

(d)  Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in

this act or in any other provision of law, a housing authority

may include, in any contract let in connection with a project,

stipulations requiring that the contractor and any

subcontractors comply with requirements as to minimum wages and

maximum hours of labor, and comply with any conditions which the

Federal or State Government may have attached to its financial

aid of the project.

(e)  Every Authority awarding contracts or requiring the

delivery of bonds pursuant to this section shall keep an exact

copy of every contract awarded or bond delivered upon file at

its principal office. Subject to regulations to be prescribed by

the State Planning Board for their safe keeping such copies

shall be opened to public inspection.

(f)  Any authority member who votes to unlawfully evade the

provisions of this section 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.

Section 2.  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 3.  This act shall take effect immediately.