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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | July 20, 2023 03:04 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator John DiSanto |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Open Contracting Act |
| Soon I will introduce an updated version of Senate Bill 57 of last session to establish the Open Contracting Act. This legislation would prohibit government entities from requiring project labor agreements (PLA) or contractor participation in apprenticeship programs as a condition for performing public works. The proposal also makes it unlawful for government entities to consider a contractor’s union status or participation in apprenticeship programs as part of the selection criterion for awarding a public project. The Open Contracting Act fulfills the goal of the Commonwealth’s competitive bidding laws so that taxpayer resources are spent efficiently and responsibly. True competitive bidding can only be achieved through a solicitation process that affords all contractors an opportunity to bid without preconditions that unjustly favor a select few. A recent example for why this legislation is needed occurred on December 19, 2022, when the Reading City Council adopted an ordinance requiring contractors who want to bid on city contracts to participate in apprenticeship programs registered with the federal or state government. The new ordinance effectively precludes numerous contractors that the City of Reading has successfully used for past projects only because the contractor utilizes its own high-quality training and safety program. This so-called “responsible contractor ordinance” is only a PLA by another name, coming just years after a Commonwealth Court decision overturned a PennDOT bid solicitation containing a PLA. These discriminatory bidding policies intentionally stifle competition by favoring union shops over nonunion contractors, which employ over 80 percent of construction industry workers. Preventing nonunion shops from bidding public projects not only discourages local job creation, but also drives up project costs for taxpayers. The Open Contracting Act ensures that all qualified contractors can compete for public contracts and that taxpayers get the best price and contract terms through an open and fair procurement process. Please consider co-sponsoring this legislation. |
Introduced as SB896