Building Trades unions combine efforts to pass responsible contractor legislation

When it comes to public construction projects in Minnesota, the law says that the lowest responsible bidder gets the job. What constitutes a “responsible bidder” wasn’t clearly defined in the law, however.

Too often, unscrupulous contractors skirt the law to win bids on taxpayer-funded projects. During the recent legislative session, the unions of the Minnesota Building & Construction Trades spearheaded an effort to rectify this, culminating in passage of a bill establishing criteria that contractors must meet when they submit bids to state or local governments.

A bi-partisan effort, with authors from both the Democrats and Republicans, the bill passed the House 84-38 and the Senate 59-0 and was signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton.

“The Trades were frustrated that unscrupulous bidders were being awarded public contracts on all sorts of jobs,” said Kyle Makarios, director of Government Affairs for the Regional Council of Carpenters and leader of the lobbying effort. “We put our heads together to come up with a mechanism to fix the problem.

“We were able to reach out to contractor associations, state agencies, legislators on eight different committees, then closely follow the bill as it reached the floor.” Efforts included circulating a letter supporting the bill by six subcontractor associations.

Another member of the team, Pete Parris, Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 political director, said that while there were no serious roadblocks, any change on this scale can be difficult especially when it involves so many different, invested parties. In the end, however, it was clear that, “Minnesotans deserve better. Contractors need to understand that just choosing the lowest bidder is not enough anymore and there will be sanctions if new rules aren’t followed.” 

Both conservatives and progressives supported the bill, and for good reason, said Dan McConnell, business manager of the Minneapolis Building & Construction Trades Council. “This is a good example of common sense legislation. Just like in any field of work, there are standards that should be met. Those who play by the rules should not be penalized by shoddy competitors.”

The legislation is straightforward. When making a bid, contractors must sign a statement that they meet certain criteria. If it turns out that a contractor submits a false statement, then they’re in breach of contract and the public agency can revoke or refuse to award a contract.

“We’ve been working with many stakeholders to get this bill right,” said Makarios. “We’ve worked with MNDOT, the Department of Labor and Industry, Admin, Human Rights, the League of Cities, Association of Counties and numerous organizations representing construction contractors – including the Associated General Contractors, the Minnesota Utility Contractors Association, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Construction Law Division of the Minnesota State Bar Association and numerous subcontractor associations.”

“This takes effect January 1, 2015. We’ll see how it works out. The goal isn’t to just catch the bad guys, but to make clear that it’s very risky to cheat. Honest contractors need to be comfortable and see that everybody has to play by the same rules and the only losers will be the cheaters.”

Specifically, in the bidding process, contractors will have to verify that they comply with and have not had any recent violations of these requirements:

  • Payment to cover their employees with workers’ compensation and unemployment compensation.
  • Wage and hour laws, including overtime pay, child labor regulations and prevailing wage requirements.
  • Laws prohibiting illegal subcontracting schemes, payroll fraud and employee misclassification.
  • No current debarments by the federal government, the state, or any local government.
  • No repeated sanctions or suspensions due to failures to make good faith efforts to hire minority workers, disadvantaged business enterprises or target group businesses.

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