HB 1365 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to road construction; creating the 2
Rural Roads Initiative pilot program within the 3
Department of Transportation; providing the purpose of 4
the pilot program; defining the term "East Pasco 5
County"; providing application and funding 6
requirements; specifying the role of the department in 7
distributing funds; specifying project standards; 8
authorizing the Governor to reallocate funds under 9
certain circumstances; providing an exception; 10
requiring the department to submit an annual report to 11
the Legislature; requiring the Legislature to 12
designate a pilot program review committee; providing 13
an appropriation; amending s. 337.14, F.S.; revising 14
the amount of a construction contract for which a 15
contractor must first be certified by the department 16
in order to bid on such contract; amending s. 337.11, 17
F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made by the 18
act; providing an effective date. 19
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Be It Enacted by the L egislature of the State of Florida: 21
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Section 1. Rural Roads Initiative pilot program. — 23
(1) The Rural Roads Initiative pilot program is created 24
within the Department of Transportation for the purpose of 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
paving state, county, or municipal roads within East Pasco 26
County that are currently unpaved. As used in this section, the 27
term "East Pasco County" means that portion of Pasco County that 28
is located east of U.S. 41. 29
(2) Under the pilot program, the Pasco County Board of 30
County Commissioners or the gov erning board of a municipality 31
within East Pasco County may apply to the Department of 32
Transportation for funding to pave roads within an area under 33
such board's jurisdiction which are currently unpaved and the 34
cost of which cannot be met by the residents of such area. In 35
determining whether an applicant receives funding, the 36
department shall consider the number of dwellings located along 37
each applicable road, as well as connectivity and the impact 38
each newly paved road will have on moving residents, goods, and 39
services within such area. The department's role in distributing 40
funds under the pilot program shall be strictly fiduciary in 41
nature. The department may not rank projects according to 42
importance and may not reject an application based on a 43
determination of feasibility. A road paving project funded under 44
the pilot program is subject only to construction standards 45
established by the county or the municipality in which the road 46
is located and is not subject to department standards. 47
(3) Each applicant th at receives funding from the 48
department under the pilot program shall be awarded 50 percent 49
of the cost of paving roads within an area under its 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
jurisdiction which are unpaved. The remaining 50 percent shall 51
be borne by the applicant. 52
(4) Funding awarded to an applicant under the pilot 53
program may be reallocated by the Governor for other uses if the 54
Governor has declared a state of emergency and determined such 55
reallocation is necessary as a result of such emergency, except 56
that funding that has been allo cated to a road paving project 57
may not be reallocated for other uses once construction for the 58
project has commenced. 59
(5) The Department of Transportation shall submit an 60
annual report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of 61
the House of Representatives which includes the number of roads 62
in each area for which paving has been completed, the amount of 63
pilot program funds expended for each road paving project, and 64
the number of residents in each area who were impacted by the 65
paving of each road. The President of the Senate and the Speaker 66
of the House of Representatives shall designate a committee to 67
review the report and determine the efficacy of the pilot 68
program. 69
(6) The sum of $20 million is appropriated from the 70
General Revenue Fund to the Department of Transportation for 71
distribution under the Rural Roads Initiative pilot program. 72
Section 2. Subsections (1) and (2) and paragraph (a) of 73
subsection (9) of section 337.14, Florida Statutes, are amended 74
to read: 75
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337.14 Application for qual ification; certificate of 76
qualification; restrictions; request for hearing. — 77
(1) Any contractor desiring to bid for the performance of 78
any construction contract in excess of $5 million $250,000 which 79
the department proposes to let must first be certified by the 80
department as qualified pursuant to this section and rules of 81
the department. The rules of the department must address the 82
qualification of contractors to bid on construction contracts in 83
excess of $5 million $250,000 and must include requirements with 84
respect to the equipment, past record, experience, financial 85
resources, and organizational personnel of the applying 86
contractor which are necessary to perform the specific class of 87
work for which the contractor seeks certification. Any 88
contractor who desires to bid on contracts in excess of $50 89
million and who is not qualified and in good standing with the 90
department as of January 1, 2019, must first be certified by the 91
department as qualified and must have satisfactorily completed 92
two projects, each i n excess of $15 million, for the department 93
or for any other state department of transportation. The 94
department may limit the dollar amount of any contract upon 95
which a contractor is qualified to bid or the aggregate total 96
dollar volume of contracts such c ontractor is allowed to have 97
under contract at any one time. Each applying contractor seeking 98
qualification to bid on construction contracts in excess of $5 99
million $250,000 shall furnish the department a statement under 100
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oath, on such forms as the departme nt may prescribe, setting 101
forth detailed information as required on the application. Each 102
application for certification must be accompanied by audited, 103
certified financial statements prepared in accordance with 104
generally accepted accounting principles and auditing standards 105
by a certified public accountant licensed in this state or 106
another state. The audited, certified financial statements must 107
be for the applying contractor and must have been prepared 108
within the immediately preceding 12 months. The departm ent may 109
not consider any financial information of the parent entity of 110
the applying contractor, if any. The department may not certify 111
as qualified any applying contractor who fails to submit the 112
audited, certified financial statements required by this 113
subsection. If the application or the annual financial statement 114
shows the financial condition of the applying contractor more 115
than 4 months before the date on which the application is 116
received by the department, the applicant must also submit 117
interim audited, certified financial statements prepared in 118
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and 119
auditing standards by a certified public accountant licensed in 120
this state or another state. The interim financial statements 121
must cover the period fr om the end date of the annual statement 122
and must show the financial condition of the applying contractor 123
no more than 4 months before the date that the interim financial 124
statements are received by the department. However, upon the 125
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request of the applying c ontractor, an application and 126
accompanying annual or interim financial statement received by 127
the department within 15 days after either 4 -month period under 128
this subsection shall be considered timely. An applying 129
contractor desiring to bid exclusively for the performance of 130
construction contracts with proposed budget estimates of less 131
than $1 million may submit reviewed annual or reviewed interim 132
financial statements prepared by a certified public accountant. 133
The information required by this subsection is c onfidential and 134
exempt from s. 119.07(1). The department shall act upon the 135
application for qualification within 30 days after the 136
department determines that the application is complete. The 137
department may waive the requirements of this subsection for 138
projects having a contract price of $500,000 or less if the 139
department determines that the project is of a noncritical 140
nature and the waiver will not endanger public health, safety, 141
or property. 142
(2) Certification shall be necessary in order to bid on a 143
road, bridge, or public transportation construction contract of 144
more than $5 million $250,000. However, the successful bidder on 145
any construction contract must furnish a contract bond prior to 146
the award of the contract. The department may waive the 147
requirement for all or a portion of a contract bond for 148
contracts of $150,000 or less under s. 337.18(1). 149
(9)(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, for 150
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contracts in excess of $5 million $250,000, an authority created 151
pursuant to chapter 348 or chapter 34 9 may require that persons 152
interested in performing work under contract first be certified 153
or qualified to do the work. Any contractor may be considered 154
ineligible to bid by the governmental entity or authority if the 155
contractor is behind an approved progr ess schedule for the 156
governmental entity or authority by 10 percent or more at the 157
time of advertisement of the work. Any contractor prequalified 158
and considered eligible by the department to bid to perform the 159
type of work described under the contract shal l be presumed to 160
be qualified to perform the work so described. The governmental 161
entity or authority may provide an appeal process to overcome 162
that presumption with de novo review based on the record below 163
to the circuit court. 164
Section 3. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) and 165
paragraph (c) of subsection (6) of section 337.11, Florida 166
Statutes, are amended to read: 167
337.11 Contracting authority of department; bids; 168
emergency repairs, supplemental agreements, and change orders; 169
combined design and construction contracts; progress payments; 170
records; requirements of vehicle registration. — 171
(3)(a) On all construction contracts of $5 million 172
$250,000 or less, and any construction contract of less than 173
$500,000 for which the department has waived pre qualification 174
under s. 337.14, the department shall advertise for bids in a 175
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newspaper having general circulation in the county where the 176
proposed work is located. Publication shall be at least once a 177
week for no less than 2 consecutive weeks, and the first 178
publication shall be no less than 14 days before prior to the 179
date on which bids are to be received. 180
(b) On all construction contracts greater than $5 million 181
$250,000, the department shall provide a bid solicitation notice 182
to all prequalified contracto rs at least 2 weeks before the date 183
bids are scheduled to be received. 184
(6) 185
(c) When the department determines that it is in the best 186
interest of the public for reasons of public concern, economy, 187
improved operations, or safety, and only when circumstanc es 188
dictate rapid completion of the work, the department may, up to 189
the amount of $5 million $250,000, enter into contracts for 190
construction and maintenance without advertising and receiving 191
competitive bids. The department may enter into such contracts 192
only upon a determination that the work is necessary for one of 193
the following reasons: 194
1. To ensure timely completion of projects or avoidance of 195
undue delay for other projects; 196
2. To accomplish minor repairs or construction and 197
maintenance activities for which time is of the essence and for 198
which significant cost savings would occur; or 199
3. To accomplish nonemergency work necessary to ensure 200
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avoidance of adverse conditions that affect the safe and 201
efficient flow of traffic. 202
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The department shall make a g ood faith effort to obtain two or 204
more quotes, if available, from qualified contractors before 205
entering into any contract. The department shall give 206
consideration to disadvantaged business enterprise 207
participation. However, when the work exists within the limits 208
of an existing contract, the department shall make a good faith 209
effort to negotiate and enter into a contract with the prime 210
contractor on the existing contract. 211
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 212