AGC Testifies at Public Hearing on Proposed Construction Bills

AGC offered both written and oral testimony at a four-hour public hearing held by the Joint Senate & House Committee on State Administration on June 18. During each session, more than 7,000 bills are filed by legislators, state authorities, individuals and trade associations on behalf of their members. This term, two dozen construction-related bills were reviewed for the 2009 -2010 legislative session.

Two of the bills heard on June 18 were sponsored by AGC: a bill to require that workers on public projects covered by the OSHA 10-hour training law be re-certified every five years; and the other bill proposes to force state agencies to certify that the necessary funds are available for awarded construction contracts over $2,000, similar to the requirement for municipalities.

AGC filed this second bill in response to a situation where an AGC member was awarded a construction contract by a local housing authority , but it was later determined, after work had begun, that the funds had not been appropriated for the project. This was known to the authority, which had authorized the company to begin construction. The contractor sued under Section 31C but the court ruled that this section does not apply to housing authorities because they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the state and not the municipality, leaving the contractor with no recourse under this section.

In addition, AGC testified against three bills to expand the Chapter 149 filed sub-bid categories to include site-work, concrete floors and other miscellaneous concrete and fire stopping.