HF 2520 (LSB 5470YH (3) 90)

HOUSE FILE 2520

BY  CROKEN

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the calculation of bids for awarding contracts for public improvements.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 26.9, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  a.  The contract for the public improvement must be awarded to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. However, contracts relating to public utilities or extensions or improvements thereof, as described in sections 384.80 through 384.94, may be awarded by the city as it deems to be in the best interests of the city. This section shall not be construed to prohibit a governmental entity in the award of a contract for a public improvement or a governing body of a city utility from providing, in the award of a contract for a public improvement, an enhancement of payments upon early completion of the public improvement if the availability of the enhancement payments is included in the notice to bidders, the enhancement payments are competitively neutral to potential bidders, the enhancement payments are considered as a separate item in the public hearing on the award of contract, and the total value of the enhancement payments does not exceed ten percent of the value of the contract.
   b.  When determining the lowest responsive bid, a county or city shall treat a bid as though the overall cost is five percent lower if the bidder’s proposal contains a statement that twenty-five percent of the labor force for the work will be completed through apprenticeships. A county or city shall also treat a bid as though the overall cost is five percent lower if the general contractor has not committed a violation of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. §651 – 678, in the preceding two years.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the calculation of bids for contracts for public improvements. The bill requires a county or city to reduce the cost of a bid by 5 percent for purposes of determining the lowest responsive bid for a contract for a public improvement if the bidder’s proposal states that 25 percent of the labor force will be completed through apprenticeships or if the general contractor has not violated the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act in the preceding two years.