Title: An act relating to authorizing the department of general administration to enter into additional job order contracts.

Brief Description: Authorizing the department of general administration to enter into additional job order contracts.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Government Operations & Elections (originally sponsored by Senators Pridemore, Kastama, Berkey, Schmidt and Shin; by request of Department of General Administration).

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Government Operations & Elections: 1/25/05, 2/7/05 [DPS, w/oRec].

Passed Senate: 3/8/05, 26-21.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ELECTIONS

Majority Report: That Substitute Senate Bill No. 5250 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass.Signed by Senators Kastama, Chair; Berkey, Vice Chair; Fairley, Haugen, Kline and Pridemore.

Minority Report: That it be referred without recommendation.Signed by Senators Roach, Ranking Minority Member; Benton and Mulliken.

Staff: Genevieve Pisarski (786-7488)

Background: A job order contract is a firm, fixed price, competitively bid, indefinite quantity type of contract designed to accomplish small to medium, multi-traded maintenance, repair and minor new construction projects. SHB 1788, adopted in 2003, allows public bodies in the state to use job order contracts. Each public body is allowed to have two such contracts in effect at any one time. As a result, the two concurrent job order contracts that the state Department of General Administration is allowed are required to serve state agencies in all parts of the state.

Summary of Bill: For the Department of General Administration, the limit on the number of concurrent job order contracts is increased from two to ten for the purpose of providing regional contracts.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: Proposals that could improve the efficiency of public contracting need to be considered. The additional number of contracts will allow the Department of General Administration to have regional contractors available throughout the state, which will serve the state agencies better. Regional contracting must be expressly included in the proposal. A review of implementation and a report should also be required.

Testimony Against: Open competitive bidding has served the public well, and increasing the number of exceptions undermines the purpose behind it. The current limit was adopted in order to gain some experience with this type of contracting before it is more widely used; relevant information has not been obtained, yet.

Who Testified: PRO: Sen. Pridemore, Prime Sponsor; John Lynch, Department of General Administration; Michael Transue, Associated General Contractors.

CON: Jeff Thomas and Larry Byers, Contractors Bonding and Insurance Company (CBIC).