NY State Senate Bill 2009-S1254

Senate Bill S1254

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Relates to providing an exemption for school districts from requirements for separate specifications for public works

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2010	referred to education
Jan 28, 2009	referred to education

2009-S1254 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3748
Current Committee:: Senate Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §308, Ed L; amd §101, Gen Muni L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S699, A3682
2013-2014: A5339
2015-2016: A6155
2017-2018: A2622

2009-S1254 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides an exemption for school districts from requirements for separate specifications for public works; permits school district to assign contract to a single responsible person, firm or corporation; permits school district to require a general contractor to submit proposed subcontractor bids; directs the commissioner of education to prepare a study on the impact of such exemption.

2009-S1254 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1254

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the education law and the general municipal law, in
relation to exempting school districts from requirements for separate
specifications for public work; and providing for the repeal of such
provisions upon expiration thereof


 PURPOSE :

This bill allows school districts to elect a single contractor for
building projects.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 adds a new subdivision to section 308 of the education law
directing the Commissioner to to issue a report on the impact of
exempting school districts from separate bidding requirements.

Section 2 amends Section 101 of the general municipal law by adding a
new subdivision 5 allowing school districts to hire a single
contractor for work on school district facilities. School districts
electing a single contractor may require the apparent low bidder and
second low bidder to submit the names of the bidder's proposed

subcontractors which may be rejected by a school district on the Same
basis a single contractor's bid may be refused. Proposed and approved
subcontractors may not be changed without written approval of the
school district. Payment of subcontractors shall be in accordance with
Section 106-b of the General Municipal Law (prompt payment). The
bidder shall specify the value to be paid to each subcontractor. A
school district may reject any bid if the business organization,
resources, financial standing, or experience of the bidder justifies
such rejection.

Section 3 sets the effective date and the length of the terms of this
provision to be five years.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Currently, the Wicks statute requires school districts to award
separate bids for general contracting, electrical, plumbing and
heating/venting/air conditioning on all projects exceeding $50,000.
New York State is the only state to impose these requirements on
public projects.  Abolishing the Wicks law has been a priority issue
for school officials for the last few decades, as well as many
concerned real property tax payers.

School officials claim that without a single contractor in charge,
coordination of the project presents difficulties for a district. In
addition, delays often occur resulting in a costlier project and more
disruptions for the students and school personnel while construction
is ongoing.

While most public works projects are required to award separate bids,
exceptions have been granted over the years to allow for the election
of single bid contracts. Exceptions include the New York City
Construction Authority (Chapter 738,L.1988) which has had an exemption
from Wicks since 1988 and was again recently renewed in 2004 for
another five year period. In addition, individual exemptions have been
made for specific school projects for the Ithaca City School District
(Chapter 500,L.1997), Niagara Falls School District (Chapter
562,L.1996), and the Buffalo School District (Chapter 605, L.2000).
The State University Construction Fund (SUCF) is also free from the
Wicks mandate. SUCF has built over $2 billion worth of SUNY campuses
and has demonstrated that "bid shopping" has not been a problem on
single award contracts. In 1999, a Wicks analysis on public
construction in New York City provided by Pricewaterhouse Coopers
concluded that projects built under the Wicks law cost significantly
more and took longer to build than similar projects not subject to the
Wicks requirements. Other studies and reports (NYS School Boards
Association, 1991; NYS Division of Budget, 1987; Niagara Falls School
District, 1996) had similar findings indicating a 10% to 30% savings
on projects completed without Wicks. School districts faced with
fiscal constraints need the flexibility offered in this bill and
taxpayers need the relief currently afforded to the New York City
School Construction Authority. The fact that the State has
continuously renewed the Wicks exemption for New York City schools
since 1988 indicates that a cost savings has been achieved by
eliminating the multiple award requirement. School districts outside
of the city of New York should be afforded the same opportunity to
award a single contractor instead of the presently required multiple
contractors. Nothing in this bill precludes a school board, in its
discretion, from entering into a Project Labor Agreement.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2007-2008:  S.2986-A - Advanced to third reading
2005-2006:  S.4759-A - Advanced to third reading

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

Cost savings to the state is anticipated as the state provides school
districts with a percentage of their building costs through building
aid.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
Significant cost savings to the local school districts is anticipated.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Effective September 1 next succeeding date and expires five years
thereafter.

2009-S1254 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  1254

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 28, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  SALAND -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Education

AN ACT to amend the education law and  the  general  municipal  law,  in
  relation  to exempting school districts from requirements for separate
  specifications for public work; and providing for the repeal  of  such
  provisions upon expiration thereof

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1.  The opening paragraph of section 308 of the education  law
is  designated subdivision 1 and a new subdivision 2 is added to read as
follows:
  2. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL COMMISSION A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF  EXEMPT-
ING  SCHOOL  DISTRICTS  FROM  THE  SEPARATE  BIDDING REQUIREMENTS OF THE
GENERAL MUNICIPAL LAW PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION  SIX  OF
SECTION  ONE  HUNDRED ONE OF THE GENERAL MUNICIPAL LAW. SUCH STUDY SHALL
INCLUDE THE IMPACT  ON  TIME  FRAMES  FOR  COMPLETING  CONSTRUCTION  AND
IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, THE OVERALL COSTS OF SUCH PROJECTS, THE QUALITY OF
WORK PERFORMED AND THE INTEGRITY OF THE BIDDING PROCESS. THE COMMISSION-
ER  SHALL  ISSUE  SUCH STUDY TO THE GOVERNOR, THE STATE COMPTROLLER, THE
TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY IN THE
FOURTH YEAR FOLLOWING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
  S 2. Section 101 of the general municipal law is amended by  adding  a
new subdivision 6 to read as follows:
  6.  A. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS SECTION, SPECIFICA-
TIONS FOR WORK PERTAINING TO THE CONSTRUCTION, ADDITION  OR  IMPROVEMENT
OF  ANY  SCHOOL DISTRICT BUILDINGS OR APPURTENANT FACILITIES MAY PROVIDE
FOR ASSIGNMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUPERVISION AND COORDINATION OF ANY
OR ALL OF THE CONTRACTS FOR SUCH WORK TO A SINGLE RESPONSIBLE AND  RELI-
ABLE PERSON, FIRM OR CORPORATION.
  B.  WHERE  A SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ASSIGNMENT OF A
CONTRACT TO A SINGLE PERSON, FIRM OR CORPORATION PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH A

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD01661-01-9

S. 1254                             2

OF THIS SUBDIVISION, SUCH SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY REQUIRE THE  APPARENT  LOW
BIDDER  AND,  AT  THE  DISCRETION  OF  THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE APPARENT
SECOND LOW BIDDER, TO SUBMIT TO THE DISTRICT THE NAMES OF  THE  BIDDER'S
PROPOSED  SUBCONTRACTORS  FOR  THE ELECTRICAL WORK; HEATING, VENTILATING
AND AIR CONDITIONING WORK; AND THE  PLUMBING  WORK.  ONLY  ONE  PROPOSED
SUBCONTRACTOR SHALL BE NAMED FOR EACH SUCH TRADE.  SUCH PROPOSED SUBCON-
TRACTOR  OR SUBCONTRACTORS MAY BE REJECTED BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ON THE
BASIS SET FORTH IN PARAGRAPH E OF THIS SUBDIVISION. UPON REJECTION OF  A
PROPOSED  SUBCONTRACTOR  OR  SUBCONTRACTORS,  THE  SCHOOL  DISTRICT  MAY
REQUIRE THE APPARENT LOW BIDDER TO SUBMIT AN ALTERNATE PROPOSED  SUBCON-
TRACTOR  OR SUBCONTRACTORS WITHIN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS. SHOULD THE APPARENT
LOW BIDDER FAIL TO PROPOSE ALTERNATE SUBCONTRACTORS SUBJECT TO  APPROVAL
BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY CONSIDER THE NEXT APPAR-
ENT  LOW  BIDDER  AND  SHALL FOLLOW THE SAME PROCEDURE SET FORTH IN THIS
PARAGRAPH.  SUCH PROPOSED SUBCONTRACTORS OF THE BIDDER, APPROVED BY  THE
SCHOOL  DISTRICT  SHALL BE USED ON THE WORK FOR WHICH THEY WERE PROPOSED
AND APPROVED, AND THEY SHALL NOT BE CHANGED  EXCEPT  WITH  THE  SPECIFIC
WRITTEN APPROVAL OF THE DISTRICT.
  C.  PAYMENT  TO THE PROPOSED SUBCONTRACTORS PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH B OF
THIS SUBDIVISION, SHALL BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF  SECTION
ONE  HUNDRED SIX-B OF THIS ARTICLE.  IN THE EVENT ANY SUCH SUBCONTRACTOR
IS NOT PAID BY THE CONTRACTOR, THE SUBCONTRACTOR SHALL IMMEDIATELY NOTI-
FY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF SUCH FACT.
  D. WITH THE SUBMISSION OF THE NAMES OF THE PROPOSED SUBCONTRACTORS  AS
PROVIDED  IN  PARAGRAPH  B OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE BIDDER SHALL SPECIFY
THE VALUE TO BE  PAID  EACH  SUCH  SUBCONTRACTOR  FOR  THE  WORK  TO  BE
PERFORMED BY SUCH SUBCONTRACTOR.
  E. A SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY REJECT ANY OR ALL BIDS OR WAIVE ANY INFORMAL-
ITY  IN A BID IF IT REASONABLY BELIEVES THAT THE PUBLIC INTEREST WILL BE
PROMOTED THEREBY. A SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY REJECT ANY BID IF, IN ITS  JUDG-
MENT, THE BUSINESS ORGANIZATION, RESOURCES, FINANCIAL STANDING, OR EXPE-
RIENCE  OF THE BIDDER JUSTIFIES SUCH REJECTION IN VIEW OF THE WORK TO BE
PERFORMED.
  F. THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL NOT APPLY TO THE NEW  YORK
CITY  SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AUTHORITY ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO TITLE SIX OF
ARTICLE EIGHT OF THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES LAW.
  S 3. This act shall  take  effect  on  the  first  of  September  next
succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law, and shall apply
to all contracts advertised or solicited for bid on or after such effec-
tive  date; provided that the provisions of this act shall expire and be
deemed repealed five years after such effective date.

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