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Senate Limits DOT&PF
Force Accounts

(JUNEAU) - The Alaska Senate passed legislation today ensuring that Alaskans receive the most value for money spent on highway construction projects.

"There is currently no upper limit on the size of projects that the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities may perform in-house, allowing it to undertake projects of any size without going through the process of bidding them out," said Sen. John Cowdery (R-Anchorage).

"This creates a situation in which the department can simply choose to complete projects by what is called force account, with its own staff and equipment, without regard for whether it would be more efficient or less costly to contract with a private firm."

Senate Bill 83, sponsored by Cowdery, would limit the size of projects that the department may perform by force account without going through the bidding process to those under $1 million. If there were no suitable bids received on a project exceeding $1 million, the department would then be able to consider performing the work itself. The current requirement of written findings for proposed in-house projects exceeding $100,000 in value would remain in place.

SB 83 passed the Senate with a vote of 13 - 6, and a notice of reconsideration was given.

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Attachments:

• Sponsor Statement for SB 83
• Print Friendly Version
  requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 1 page(s) - 98 K

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