Relates to procurement reform in cities with a population of a million or more by requiring certain bids to be rejected; gives standing to certain elected officials to sue on behalf of those injured due to a contractor's negligence.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2544
SPONSOR: Barnwell TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to procurement
reform
PURPOSE:
To bring more accountability to the procurement system
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
-Grants certain officials the power to reject bids of bad contractors
-Mandates legal entities must provide the names .of all members when
submitting a bid Mandates rejection of bids for various issues, such as:
safety violations, wage theft violations, unpaid fines, a history of
untimely projects, and/or a history of previous projects costing more
than the original bids
-Grants certain officials the power to reject bids in the interest of
public policy, or if the official believes the entity is not a responsi-
ble bidder, or other reasons within their discretion.
-Mandates a public hearing for the communities impacted by such project
-Grants elected officials standing to sue in court for damages to
constituents' property.
JUSTIFICATION:
Time and time again, the same contractors are successful in winning bids
for infrastructure projects throughout the State. However, many times
these contractors are bad actors, and have a history of violations,
and/or shoddy work product. Constituents across the State continue to be
left on the hook, and without compensation for damages because of vari-
ous issues addressed by this bill. This legislation would grant more
accountability by allowing for more discretion to be used in denying
projects where the contractor has shown to be a bad actor, and allows
for a course of action to pursue remedies for such damage.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2019-2020: A8584
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2544
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 19, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARNWELL -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Local Governments
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to procurement
reform
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 103 of the general municipal law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 1-d to read as follows:
3 1-d. In determining the lowest responsible bidder, the appropriate
4 officer, board or agency for determining the lowest responsible bidder
5 for a city with a population of one million or more and such city's
6 comptroller shall:
7 (a) reject any bids where the bidder is a legal entity that did not
8 provide the names of all members of such legal entity in their bid;
9 (b) reject any bids where the bidder: (i) has had any safety, wage
10 theft, or other violations involving the mistreatment of employees or
11 contractors; (ii) has unpaid fines; (iii) has a history of projects not
12 being completed timely; or (iv) has a history of projects that have
13 required substantial additional costs as compared to their original
14 accepted bid;
15 (c) have binding authority to reject a bid: (i) in the interest of
16 public policy; (ii) upon such appropriate officer, board or agency's or
17 such comptroller's finding that the bidder is not a responsible bidder;
18 or (iii) based on any other reason such appropriate officer, board or
19 agency or such comptroller deems fit; and
20 (d) inform the community boards, or their equivalent, of the affected
21 area of the bidding process taking place and, at least thirty days
22 before approval or rejection of the bid, hold a public hearing within
23 the community boards the project will be located in. If a contract is
24 awarded on an emergency basis, the public hearing shall be held within
25 seven days of the emergency arising.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07021-01-1
A. 2544 2
1 § 2. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new section
2 103-h to read as follows:
3 § 103-h. Representative standing. 1. Where a cause of action arises
4 out of negligent construction or demolition performed by a contractor in
5 the course of being contracted with a city with a population of one
6 million or more, all elected officials which represent the location in
7 which the negligent construction or demolition took place shall have
8 standing to sue such contractor on behalf of the constituents affected
9 by such negligent construction or demolition.
10 2. If an elected official sues such contractor establishing standing
11 to do so under this section, any monetary judgment in favor of the suing
12 elected official shall only be used to pay the elected official's
13 reasonable legal fees and to repair damage done to property by such
14 contractor.
15 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
16 have become a law and shall apply to all contracts issued on or after
17 such effective date.
