HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/CS/HB 53 Public Works
SPONSOR(S): State Affairs Committee, Public Integrity & Elections Committee and Government Operations
Subcommittee, DiCeglie and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/CS/SB 1076, CS/CS/HB 367
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Government Operations Subcommittee 10 Y, 6 N, As CS Roth Smith
2) Public Integrity & Elections Committee 11 Y, 6 N, As CS Pardo Rubottom
3) State Affairs Committee 16 Y, 8 N, As CS Roth Williamson
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Currently, for a competitive solicitation for construction services in which 50 percent or more of the cost will be paid
from state-appropriated funds, certain entities of the state may not use a local ordinance or regulation that provides
certain preferences.
“Public works project” means an activity of which 50 percent or more of the cost will be paid from state-appropriated
funds that were appropriated at the time of the competitive solicitation and which consists of the construction,
maintenance, repair, renovation, remodeling, or improvement of a building, road, street, sewer, storm drain, water
system, site development, irrigation system, reclamation project, gas or electrical distribution system, gas or
electrical substation, or other facility, project, or portion thereof that is owned in whole or in part by any political
subdivision.
For competitive solicitations for construction services, the bill removes the 50 percent or more, state-appropriated
funding threshold that triggers the prohibition on certain local preferences and instead, provides that the prohibition
applies if such solicitations will be paid for, in whole or in part, with funding that is state-appropriated. The bill also
removes the 50 percent or more, state-appropriated funding threshold within the definition of public works project
and applies the pre-bid prohibitions to activities exceeding $1,000,000 in value and that are paid for, in whole or in
part, with state-appropriated funds.
The bill prohibits the state or any political subdivision that contracts for a public works project from preventing a
certified, licensed, or registered contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier, from participating in the
bidding process based on the geographic location of the company headquarters or offices of the contractor,
subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier submitting a bid on a public works project or the residences of
employees of such contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier.
Wastewater and stormwater must be managed to protect public health, water quality, recreation, fish, wildlife, and
the aesthetic appeal of Florida’s waterways.
Beginning with the annual assessment due January 1, 2022, the bill requires Office of Economic & Demographic
Research (EDR) to include an analysis of the expenditures necessary to repair, replace, and expand water-related
infrastructure in their annual assessment of Florida's water resources and conservation lands.
By June 30, 2022, and every five years thereafter, the bill requires each county, municipality, or special district
providing wastewater or stormwater services to develop a needs analysis for its jurisdiction over the subsequent 20
years. The analyses must be compiled and submitted to EDR, which must evaluate the compiled documents for the
purpose of developing a statewide analysis for inclusion in the annual assessment due January 1, 2023.
The bill may have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the state and local governments.
This document does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
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 FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Public Works Projects
Present Situation
Procurement of Construction Services
Chapter 255, F.S., specifies the procedures to be followed in the procurement of construction services
for public property and publicly owned buildings. The Department of Management Services is
responsible for establishing by rule the following:
 Procedures for determining the qualifications and responsibility of potential bidders prior to
advertising for and receiving bids for building construction contracts;
 Procedures for awarding each state agency construction project to the lowest qualified bidder;
 Procedures to govern negotiations for construction contracts and contract modifications when
such negotiations are determined to be in the best interest of the state; and
 Procedures for entering into performance-based contracts for the development of public
facilities when those contracts are determined to be in the best interest of the state.1
State contracts for construction projects that are projected to cost in excess of $200,000 must be
competitively bid.2 A county, municipality, special district, or other political subdivision seeking to
construct or improve a public building must competitively bid the project if the estimated cost is in
excess of $300,000.3
Section 255.0525, F.S., requires the solicitation of competitive bids or proposals for any state
construction project that is projected to cost more than $200,000 to be publicly advertised in the Florida
Administrative Register (FAR) at least 21 days prior to the established bid opening. If the cost of the
construction project is projected to exceed $500,000, the advertisement must be published in the FAR
at least 30 days prior to the bid opening, and at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county where the project is located at least 30 days prior to the bid opening.4
For a competitive solicitation5 for construction services in which 50 percent or more of the cost will be
paid from state-appropriated funds, a state college, county, municipality, school district, or other political
subdivision of the state may not use a local ordinance or regulation that provides a preference based
upon:
 The contractor’s maintaining an office or place of business within a particular local jurisdiction;
 The contractor’s hiring employees or subcontractors from within a particular local jurisdiction; or
 The contractor’s prior payment of local taxes, assessments, or duties within a particular local
jurisdiction.6
Several counties and municipalities have adopted ordinances requiring companies bidding on contracts
to pay their employees a “living wage,”7 while others have adopted ordinances requiring apprenticeship
programs.8
1
S. 255.29, F.S.
2
See s. 255.0525, F.S.; see also ch. 60D-5.002 and 60D-5.0073, F.A.C.
3
S. 255.20(1), F.S. For electrical work, local governments must competitively bid projects estimated to cost more than $75,000.
4
For counties, municipalities, and political subdivisions, similar publishing provisions apply. See S. 255.0525(2), F.S.
5
“Competitive solicitation” means an invitation to bid, a request for proposals, or an invitation to negotiate. S. 255.248, F.S.
6
S. 255.0991(2), F.S.
7
See, e.g., Broward County Code of Ordinances s. 26-102, Palm Beach County Code of Ordinances s. 2-147 to 2-250.1, Miami-Dade
County Code of Ordinances s. 2-8.9.
8
See Charlie Frago, Tampa Seeks to Require Apprenticeships on Large City Projects, Tampa Bay Times (December 4, 2020),
available at https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2020/12/04/tampa-seeks-to-require-apprenticeships-on-large-city-projects/ (last
visited March 26, 2021).
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 Preference to State Residents
Florida law provides a preference for the employment of state residents in construction contracts
funded with state funds. Such contracts must contain a provision requiring the contractor to give
preference to employing state residents to perform the work if such residents have substantially equal
qualifications9 to those of nonresidents.10 If a construction contract is funded by local funds, the contract
may, but is not required to, contain such a provision.11 In addition, a contractor required to employ state
residents must contact the Department of Economic Opportunity to post the contractor’s employment
needs in the state’s job bank system.12
A contract will not be let to any person who refuses to execute an agreement that gives preference to
state residents.13 However, contracts involving the expenditure of federal aid funds do not have to give
preference to employing state residents if that conflicts with federal law.14
Public Works Projects – Prohibited Governmental Actions
In 2017,15 the Florida Legislature created section 255.0992, F.S., relating to public works projects, and
defined the following terms:
 “Political subdivision” means a separate agency or unit of local government created or
established by law or ordinance and the officers thereof. The term includes, but is not limited to,
a county; a city, town, or other municipality; or a department, commission, authority, school
district, taxing district, water management district, board, public corporation, institution of higher
education, or other public agency or body thereof authorized to expend public funds for
construction, maintenance, repair, or improvement of public works.
 “Public works project” means an activity of which 50 percent or more of the cost will be paid
from state-appropriated funds that were appropriated at the time of the competitive solicitation
and which consists of the construction, maintenance, repair, renovation, remodeling, or
improvement of a building, road, street, sewer, storm drain, water system, site development,
irrigation system, reclamation project, gas or electrical distribution system, gas or electrical
substation, or other facility, project, or portion thereof that is owned in whole or in part by any
political subdivision.
The law provides that except as required by federal or state law, the state or any political subdivision
that contracts for a public works project may not require a contractor, subcontractor, or material
supplier or carrier engaged in the project to:16
 Pay employees a predetermined amount of wages or prescribe any wage rate;
 Provide employees a specified type, amount, or rate of employee benefits;
 Control, limit, or expand staffing; or
 Recruit, train, or hire employees from a designated, restricted, or single source.
In addition, the law provides17 that the state or any political subdivision that contracts for a public works
project may not prohibit any contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier or carrier from submitting a
bid on the project if such individual is able to perform the work described and is qualified, licensed, or
9
S. 255.099(1)(a), F.S., defines “substantially equal qualifications” as the qualifications of two or more persons among whom the
employer cannot make a reasonable determination that the qualifications held by one person are better suited for the position than the
qualifications held by the other person or persons.
10
S. 255.099(1), F.S.
11
Id.
12
S. 255.099(1)(b), F.S.
13
S. 255.099(2), F.S.
14
Id.
15
Ch. 2017-113, L.O.F.
16
S. 255.0992(2)(a), F.S.
17
S. 255.0992(2)(b), F.S.
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 certified as required by state law. However, this provision does not apply to vendors listed in sections
287.13318 and 287.134, F.S.19
The law does not apply to contracts executed by the Department of Transportation (DOT) under
chapter 337, F.S.20
During the bid process, it is common for local governments to place certain limitations, such as the
requirement of a general contractor’s license, on the bid documents.
Federal Labor and Wage Laws
The National Labor Relations Act of 193521 and the Labor Management Relations Act of 194722
constitute a comprehensive scheme of regulations guaranteeing employees the right to organize, to
bargain collectively through chosen representatives, and to engage in concerted activities to secure
their rights in industries involved in or affected by interstate commerce.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA or act) establishes a federal minimum wage, which is the lowest
hourly wage that can be paid in the United States.23 A state may set the rate higher than the federal
minimum, but not lower.24 The act also requires employers to pay time and a half to their employees for
overtime hours worked,25 and establishes standards for recordkeeping26 and child labor.27 Over 135
million workers are covered under the act;28 most, but not all, jobs are covered by the FLSA. In
addition, some jobs covered by the act are considered “exempt” from the FLSA overtime
requirements.29
On February 12, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658, which establishes a minimum
wage for certain federal contractors.30 The Executive Order requires parties who contract with the
federal government to pay workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts
at least $10.10 per hour beginning January 1, 2015. Beginning January 1, 2016, and annually
thereafter, such workers must be paid an amount determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance
with the Executive Order. The order stated that “[r]aising the pay of low-wage workers increases their
morale and the productivity and quality of their work, lowers turnover and its accompanying costs, and
18
S. 287.133, F.S., prohibits a vendor that has been convicted of a public entity crime from being awarded or performing work as a
contractor, supplier, subcontractor, or consultant under a contract with the state, any of its departments or agencies, or any political
subdivision.
19
S. 287.134, F.S., prohibits an entity that has been found by a court to have committed discrimination based on race, gender, national
origin, disability, or religion from being awarded or performing work as a contractor, supplier, subcontractor, or consultant under a
contract with the state or any department or agency of the state.
20
S. 255.0992(3), F.S.
21
29 U.S.C. ss. 151-169 (encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and protecting the exercise by workers of
full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating
the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection).
22
29 U.S.C. ss. 141-197 (prescribing the rights of both employees and employers in their relations affecting commerce, to provide
orderly and peaceful procedures for preventing the interference by either with the rights of the other, to protect the rights of individual
employees in their relations with labor organizations whose activities affect commerce, to define and proscribe practices on the part of
labor and management which affect commerce and are inimical to the general welfare, and to protect the rights of the public in
connection with labor disputes affecting commerce).
23
29 U.S.C. s. 206.
24
29 U.S.C. s. 218(a).
25
29 U.S.C. s. 207(a)(1).
26
29 U.S.C. s. 211.
27
29 U.S.C. s. 212.
28
United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: Resources for Workers, available at
http://www.dol.gov/whd/workers.htm (last visited March 26, 2021).
29
29 U.S.C. s. 213; United States Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #14: Coverage Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),
www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs14.pdf (last visited March 26, 2021).
30
Exec. Order 13658, 79 Fed. Reg. 9851 (Feb. 12, 2014), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-
office/2014/02/12/executive-order-minimum-wage-contractors (last visited March 26, 2021).
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 reduces supervisory costs.”31 The Executive Order hourly minimum wage in effect from January 1,
2021, through December 31, 2021, is $10.95.32
The Davis-Bacon Act33 applies to contractors and subcontractors performing on federally funded or
assisted contracts in excess of $2,000 for the construction, alteration, or repair (including painting and
decorating) of public buildings or public works.34 Contractors and subcontractors subject to the Davis-
Bacon Act are required to pay their laborers and mechanics employed under the contract no less than
the locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar projects in the area,
as determined by the Department of Labor.35 The Davis-Bacon Act applies to contractors and
subcontractors performing work on federal or District of Columbia contracts.36 Many federal laws that
authorize federal assistance for constr