STAND. COM. REP. NO.3281
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2002
RE: H.B. No. 2525
H.D. 1
S.D. 2
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2002
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2525, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to ensure that when contractors bid on public works construction projects, the bidding is done pursuant to standards that are fair, equitable, and uniformly applied.
Specifically, this bill:
(1) Clarifies that Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes (wages and hours of employees on public works), applies to every public works contract in excess of $2,000 regardless of whether prevailing wage, overtime, and other requirements are stated in a contract or specifications;
(2) Declares that omission of these provisions shall not be used as a defense by a contractor who is not in compliance with Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(3) Authorizes the disclosure of the terms of a collective bargaining agreement to a federal or state agency authorized to enforce Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
(4) Requires that prior to the execution of any contract subject to Chapter 104, the governmental contracting agency shall require of and receive from each bidder, a signed affidavit attesting to the bidder's acknowledgment of and intent to comply with Chapter 104.
Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires that prevailing wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and other provisions be inserted in every state and county public works contract over $2,000. However, your Committee finds that problems have arisen when some state and county agencies have inadvertently omitted the specific provisions that require contractor compliance from their contracts and specifications. When these contractors are cited for violations, they assert that Chapter 104, does not apply to them because the specific provisions were not included in the contract.
Your Committee believes that this situation has created enforcement problems and erodes the leveling of the playing field for contract bidders since contractors who do not pay prevailing wages can underbid contractors who base their bids upon prevailing wages.
Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by clarifying that bidders are to submit a signed affidavit attesting to their knowledge of and intent to comply with Chapter 104, Hawaii Revised Statutes, at the time of bid submission, rather than "prior to the execution of any contract" in subsection 104-2(a), Hawaii Revised Statutes, on page 2, lines 16 to 20.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2525, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2525, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,
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____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair |
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