BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 600 (Rubio)
Hearing Date: 05/23/2011 Amended: 05/11/2011
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Education 6-3
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 600 requires a school district to pre-qualify
prospective bidders, as specified, for any school facility
construction project that receives funds under the state School
Facility Program. The bill also requires school districts that
opt to pre-qualify bidders for a contract to use specified
processes "substantially similar" to those developed by the
Department of Industrial Relations (DIR).
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Pre-qualification of bidders Substantial ongoing cost
pressure General*
*Proposition 1D and all future K-12 construction bonds
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Under existing law, the governing board of a school district is
authorized to require each prospective bidder for specified
contracts to submit a standardized questionnaire and financial
statement, including information relating to financial ability
and experience in performing public works, which is required to
be verified under oath. Existing law further requires a school
district that has chosen to require that information to adopt
and apply a uniform system of rating bidders on the basis of the
completed questionnaires and financial statements.
This bill would require the questionnaire and uniform system of
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rating bidders (that is an option for school districts to
require), to contain, at a minimum, substantially similar
information, questions, and requirements as that of the
standardized questionnaire and model guidelines for rating
bidders developed by the DIR, as specified.
Existing law grants authority, but does not require a
standardized questionnaire or other pre-qualification process
for bidders. SAB publications offering guidance to school
districts on construction projects detail the benefits of
pre-qualifying bidders, including potential cost aversion by
helping to ensure a more reliable work product, and encourage
school districts to use pre-qualification tools as a safeguard.
School districts can pre-qualify bidders now, and many do so.
This bill mandates that school districts use a pre-qualification
process by recasting existing authority as a choice between two
options. This bill specifies that if the governing board of the
district chooses not to follow the uniform system of rating
bidders described in Public Contract Code 20111.5, it must use
other specified procedures described in Public Contract Code
20101, which is another pre-qualification process requiring, at
a minimum, a standardized questionnaire and financial
statements to be verified under oath. Requiring school districts
to pre-qualify bidders in one of two ways specified in the bill
will create upfront costs to schools seeking construction
funding for both the expanded process and potential appeals for
contractors denied pre-qualification. These activities create
new cost pressure on existing and future schools bonds that
would be expended on these activities. Additionally, to the
extent that the universe of bidders is narrowed by the process,
schools may end up paying more (in state bond funding) for
construction projects.
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