BILL REQ. #:  H-0992.1 

Read first time 01/29/2007.   Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.

     AN ACT Relating to public works contract completion reporting threshold requirements; and amending RCW 60.28.051, 39.08.010, and 39.12.040.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 60.28.051 and 1992 c 223 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     Upon completion of a contract, the state, county, or other municipal officer charged with the duty of disbursing or authorizing disbursement or payment of such contracts shall forthwith notify the department of revenue of the completion of contracts over ((twenty)) thirty-five thousand dollars. Such officer shall not make any payment from the retained percentage fund or release any retained percentage escrow account to any person, until he or she has received from the department of revenue a certificate that all taxes, increases, and penalties due from the contractor, and all taxes due and to become due with respect to such contract have been paid in full or that they are, in the department's opinion, readily collectible without recourse to the state's lien on the retained percentage.

Sec. 2   RCW 39.08.010 and 1989 c 145 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     Whenever any board, council, commission, trustees, or body acting for the state or any county or municipality or any public body shall contract with any person or corporation to do any work for the state, county, or municipality, or other public body, city, town, or district, such board, council, commission, trustees, or body shall require the person or persons with whom such contract is made to make, execute, and deliver to such board, council, commission, trustees, or body a good and sufficient bond, with a surety company as surety, conditioned that such person or persons shall faithfully perform all the provisions of such contract and pay all laborers, mechanics, and subcontractors and materialmen, and all persons who supply such person or persons, or subcontractors, with provisions and supplies for the carrying on of such work, which bond in cases of cities and towns shall be filed with the clerk or comptroller thereof, and any person or persons performing such services or furnishing material to any subcontractor shall have the same right under the provisions of such bond as if such work, services, or material was furnished to the original contractor: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That the provisions of RCW 39.08.010 through 39.08.030 shall not apply to any money loaned or advanced to any such contractor, subcontractor or other person in the performance of any such work: PROVIDED FURTHER, That on contracts of ((twenty-five)) thirty-five thousand dollars or less, at the option of the contractor the respective public entity may, in lieu of the bond, retain fifty percent of the contract amount for a period of thirty days after date of final acceptance, or until receipt of all necessary releases from the department of revenue and the department of labor and industries and settlement of any liens filed under chapter 60.28 RCW, whichever is later: PROVIDED FURTHER, That for contracts of one hundred thousand dollars or less, the public entity may accept a full payment and performance bond from an individual surety or sureties: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That the surety must agree to be bound by the laws of the state of Washington and subjected to the jurisdiction of the state of Washington.

Sec. 3   RCW 39.12.040 and 1991 c 15 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, before payment is made by or on behalf of the state, or any county, municipality, or political subdivision created by its laws, of any sum or sums due on account of a public works contract, it shall be the duty of the officer or person charged with the custody and disbursement of public funds to require the contractor and each and every subcontractor from the contractor or a subcontractor to submit to such officer a "Statement of Intent to Pay Prevailing Wages". For a contract in excess of ten thousand dollars, the statement of intent to pay prevailing wages shall include:
     (a) The contractor's registration certificate number; and
     (b) The prevailing rate of wage for each classification of workers entitled to prevailing wages under RCW 39.12.020 and the estimated number of workers in each classification.
     Each statement of intent to pay prevailing wages must be approved by the industrial statistician of the department of labor and industries before it is submitted to said officer. Unless otherwise authorized by the department of labor and industries, each voucher claim submitted by a contractor for payment on a project estimate shall state that the prevailing wages have been paid in accordance with the prefiled statement or statements of intent to pay prevailing wages on file with the public agency. Following the final acceptance of a public works project, it shall be the duty of the officer charged with the disbursement of public funds, to require the contractor and each and every subcontractor from the contractor or a subcontractor to submit to such officer an "Affidavit of Wages Paid" before the funds retained according to the provisions of RCW 60.28.010 are released to the contractor. Each affidavit of wages paid must be certified by the industrial statistician of the department of labor and industries before it is submitted to said officer.
     (2) As an alternate to the procedures provided for in subsection (1) of this section, for public works projects of two thousand five hundred dollars or less and for projects where the limited public works process under RCW 39.04.155(3) is followed:
     (a) An awarding agency may authorize the contractor or subcontractor to submit the statement of intent to pay prevailing wages directly to the officer or person charged with the custody or disbursement of public funds in the awarding agency without approval by the industrial statistician of the department of labor and industries. The awarding agency shall retain such statement of intent to pay prevailing wages for a period of not less than three years.
     (b) Upon final acceptance of the public works project, the awarding agency shall require the contractor or subcontractor to submit an affidavit of wages paid. Upon receipt of the affidavit of wages paid, the awarding agency may pay the contractor or subcontractor in full, including funds that would otherwise be retained according to the provisions of RCW 60.28.010. Within thirty days of receipt of the affidavit of wages paid, the awarding agency shall submit the affidavit of wages paid to the industrial statistician of the department of labor and industries for approval.
     (c) A statement of intent to pay prevailing wages and an affidavit of wages paid shall be on forms approved by the department of labor and industries.
     (d) In the event of a wage claim and a finding for the claimant by the department of labor and industries where the awarding agency has used the alternative process provided for in subsection (2) of this section, the awarding agency shall pay the wages due directly to the claimant. If the contractor or subcontractor did not pay the wages stated in the affidavit of wages paid, the awarding agency may take action at law to seek reimbursement from the contractor or subcontractor of wages paid to the claimant, and may prohibit the contractor or subcontractor from bidding on any public works contract of the awarding agency for up to one year.
     (e) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to allow an awarding agency to subdivide any public works project of more than two thousand five hundred dollars for the purpose of circumventing the procedures required by RCW 39.12.040(1).