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News & Notes
Public Construction Projects
A bill limiting local government’s use of its own workforce on certain construction projects was significantly amended in the Senate Community Affairs Committee this week. As filed, SB 2418 by Senator Haridopolis would have required counties and cities that need to conduct repair and maintenance on public buildings in excess of $280,000 to competitively award such work to a licensed contractor, rather than using in-house personnel. The bill also affected road construction projects in that a county could only use its work force for road projects that (1) did not exceed $250,000 per project (excluding material costs), and (2) did not exceed one mile in length. Finally, the bill would have precluded local governments from owning and operating an asphalt plant. However, Senator Geller filed a late amendment that removed all of the language in the bill, except for the provision covering asphalt plants. While this bill has changed drastically in favor of local governments, the House transportation bill, HB 1399 by Rep. Aubuchon, includes the language limiting a county road construction.