Legislative Alert and Call to Action

Potential Major Increase to Force Account Limits for Local Government
 

The current version of the Transportation Budget bill (House Bill 74) being considered by the Senate was recently amended to include dramatic changes to the force account limits for local governments. The changes include:

• Increase the limits for municipalities from $30,000 per project to $150,00 per project.
• Increases the limits for township for road projects from:
  • $45,000 per project to $150,000 per project for maintenance and repair, and
  • $15,000 per mile to $150,000 per mile for construction and reconstruction.
• Increases the limits for county engineers from:
  • $30,000 per mile to $150,000 per mile for construction or reconstruction, and
  • $100,000 to $300,000 for bridge and culvert work of any type.
• CEA is working with our industry partners for a collective push to have this language removed from the bill. (March 18 Industry Testimony)

We need you to be a part of that effort! Time is short and the industry needs YOU to contact your state Senator and Representative NOW to let them know how harmful this is to your company and employees. Some talking points to consider include:

• Increasing force account limits will expand government at the detriment of private construction businesses and taxpayer dollars.
• Competitive bidding is the most effective means of performing construction projects resulting in best value and lowest price.
• The private sector is more efficient than government in terms of operations, obtaining reasonable material costs, and applying innovative strategies.
• The private-sector construction industry relies on these projects from all levels of government to sustain good paying jobs and entice the work force of tomorrow to adopt construction as a viable career choice.
• Increases such as these promote local governments to move from a maintenance mindset to a construction mindset – a notion that enlarges government payroll and calls for the acquisition of ever larger equipment in greater amounts.
• Local government employees are not trained construction professionals and this is “mission creep” at its worst.

Please contact your state senator and state representative immediately to express your opposition against these changes. 

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