1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to transportation; modifying certain state 
  1.3             contract procedures; providing for posting highway 
  1.4             construction and maintenance bids or bid records 
  1.5             electronically or over the Internet; modifying 
  1.6             seasonal highway weight limitations; making clarifying 
  1.7             changes; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 
  1.8             16C.05, subdivision 5; 16C.06, subdivisions 1 and 3; 
  1.9             16C.08, subdivision 2; 16C.10, subdivision 6; 160.02, 
  1.10            subdivision 7, and by adding a subdivision; 161.32, 
  1.11            subdivisions 1, 1b, and 1e; and 169.825, subdivision 
  1.12            11. 
  1.13  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.14     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16C.05, 
  1.15  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.16     Subd. 5.  [SUBJECT TO AUDIT.] A contract or any 
  1.17  pass-through disbursement of public funds to a vendor of goods 
  1.18  or services or a grantee made by or under the supervision of the 
  1.19  commissioner or any county or unit of local government must 
  1.20  include, expressed or implied, an audit clause that provides 
  1.21  that the books, records, documents, and accounting procedures 
  1.22  and practices of the vendor or other party, that are relevant to 
  1.23  the contract or transaction, are subject to examination by the 
  1.24  contracting agency and either the legislative auditor or the 
  1.25  state auditor, as appropriate, for a minimum of six years.  If 
  1.26  the contracting agency is a local unit of government, and the 
  1.27  governing body of the local unit of government requests that the 
  1.28  state auditor examine the books, records, documents, and 
  1.29  accounting procedures and practices of the vendor or other party 
  2.1   pursuant to this subdivision, the contracting agency shall be 
  2.2   liable for the cost of the examination.  If the contracting 
  2.3   agency is a local unit of government, and the grantee, vendor, 
  2.4   or other party requests that the state auditor examine all 
  2.5   books, records, documents, and accounting procedures and 
  2.6   practices related to the contract, the grantee, vendor, or other 
  2.7   party that requested the examination shall be liable for the 
  2.8   cost of the examination.  An agency contract made for purchase, 
  2.9   lease, or license of software and data from the state is, a work 
  2.10  order, and an amendment to a work order are not required to 
  2.11  contain this audit clause. 
  2.12     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16C.06, 
  2.13  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.14     Subdivision 1.  [PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS.] Notices of 
  2.15  solicitations for acquisitions estimated to be more than 
  2.16  $25,000 $100,000 must be publicized in a manner designated by 
  2.17  the commissioner. 
  2.18     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16C.06, 
  2.19  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.20     Subd. 3.  [INFORMATION IN BIDS AND PROPOSALS.] (a) Only the 
  2.21  name of the vendor and dollar amounts specified in a response to 
  2.22  a request for bids shall be read at the time of opening.  Only 
  2.23  the name of the responding vendors to all requests for proposals 
  2.24  shall be read at the time of opening.  All other information 
  2.25  contained in a vendor's response to a bid is classified as 
  2.26  nonpublic data, as defined in section 13.02, and remains 
  2.27  nonpublic data until completion of the selection award process.  
  2.28  All other information contained in a vendor's response to a 
  2.29  request for proposal, other than the name of the vendor, is 
  2.30  classified as nonpublic data, as defined in section 13.02, and 
  2.31  remains nonpublic data until the completion of the evaluation 
  2.32  process.  
  2.33     (b) All responses are public information at the time of the 
  2.34  award unless otherwise provided for.  All responses and 
  2.35  documents pertaining to the final award of an acquisition must 
  2.36  be retained and made a part of a permanent file or record and 
  3.1   remain open to public inspection, after award, unless otherwise 
  3.2   provided for by law. 
  3.3      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16C.08, 
  3.4   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.5      Subd. 2.  [DUTIES OF CONTRACTING AGENCY.] Before an agency 
  3.6   may seek approval of a professional or technical services 
  3.7   contract valued in excess of $5,000 $100,000, it must certify to 
  3.8   the commissioner that: 
  3.9      (1) no current state employee is able and available to 
  3.10  perform the services called for by the contract the use of 
  3.11  nonemployee professional or technical consultants will be 
  3.12  economically beneficial; 
  3.13     (2) the normal competitive bidding mechanisms will not 
  3.14  provide for adequate performance of the services; 
  3.15     (3) the contractor has certified that the product of the 
  3.16  services will be original in character; 
  3.17     (4) reasonable efforts were made to publicize the 
  3.18  availability of the contract to the public; 
  3.19     (5) the agency has received, reviewed, and accepted a 
  3.20  detailed work plan from the contractor for performance under the 
  3.21  contract, if applicable; 
  3.22     (6) the agency has developed, and fully intends to 
  3.23  implement, a written plan providing for the assignment of 
  3.24  specific agency personnel to a monitoring and liaison function, 
  3.25  the periodic review of interim reports or other indications of 
  3.26  past performance, and the ultimate utilization of the final 
  3.27  product of the services; and 
  3.28     (7) the agency will not allow the contractor to begin work 
  3.29  before funds are fully encumbered.  
  3.30     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 16C.10, 
  3.31  subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  3.32     Subd. 6.  [EXPENDITURES UNDER SPECIFIED AMOUNTS.] The 
  3.33  solicitation process described in this chapter is not required 
  3.34  for: 
  3.35     (1) acquisition of goods or services, other than 
  3.36  professional or technical services, in an amount of $2,500 or 
  4.1   less; or 
  4.2      (2) acquisition of professional or technical services in an 
  4.3   amount of $5,000 $100,000 or less, provided the requirements of 
  4.4   section 16C.08, subdivisions 3 to 6, are met. 
  4.5      Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 160.02, 
  4.6   subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  4.7      Subd. 7.  [ROAD OR HIGHWAY.] "Road" or "highway" means a 
  4.8   corridor used primarily for the transportation of persons or 
  4.9   goods and includes, unless otherwise specified, the several 
  4.10  kinds of highways as defined in this section, including roads 
  4.11  designated as minimum-maintenance roads, and also cartways, 
  4.12  together with all bridges or other structures thereon which form 
  4.13  a part of the same.  
  4.14     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 160.02, is 
  4.15  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  4.16     Subd. 17.  [HIGHWAY PURPOSE.] "Highway purpose" means a 
  4.17  purpose that is substantially related to establishing, 
  4.18  constructing, reconstructing, or maintaining a road or highway. 
  4.19     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 161.32, 
  4.20  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.21     Subdivision 1.  [ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS.] The commissioner 
  4.22  may conduct the work or any part thereof of the work incidental 
  4.23  to the construction and maintenance of the trunk highways by 
  4.24  labor employed therefor to do the work or by contract.  In cases 
  4.25  of construction work, the commissioner shall first advertise for 
  4.26  bids for contracts, and if no satisfactory bids are received, 
  4.27  may either reject all bids and readvertise, or do the work by 
  4.28  labor employed therefor to do the work.  Except as hereinafter 
  4.29  provided in subdivision 3 or 4, when work is to be done under 
  4.30  contract, the commissioner shall advertise for bids once each 
  4.31  week for three successive weeks prior to the date such the bids 
  4.32  are to be received.  The advertisement for bids shall must be 
  4.33  published in a newspaper or other periodical of general 
  4.34  circulation in the state and may be placed on the Internet.  The 
  4.35  plans and specifications for the proposed work shall must be on 
  4.36  file in the commissioner's office prior to the first call for 
  5.1   bids. 
  5.2      Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 161.32, 
  5.3   subdivision 1b, is amended to read: 
  5.4      Subd. 1b.  [LOWEST RESPONSIBLE BIDDER.] Bidders may submit 
  5.5   bids electronically in a form and manner required by the 
  5.6   commissioner.  Trunk highway construction contracts, including 
  5.7   design-build contracts, must be awarded to the lowest 
  5.8   responsible bidder, taking into consideration conformity with 
  5.9   the specifications, the purpose for which the contract or 
  5.10  purchase is intended, the status and capability of the vendor, 
  5.11  and other considerations imposed in the call for bids.  The 
  5.12  commissioner may decide which is the lowest responsible bidder 
  5.13  for all contracts and may use the principles of life-cycle 
  5.14  costing, where when appropriate, in determining the lowest 
  5.15  overall bid.  Any or all bids may be rejected.  In a case 
  5.16  where When competitive bids are required and where all bids are 
  5.17  rejected, new bids, if solicited, must be called for as in the 
  5.18  first instance, unless otherwise provided by law. 
  5.19     Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 161.32, 
  5.20  subdivision 1e, is amended to read: 
  5.21     Subd. 1e.  [RECORD.] A record must be kept of all bids, 
  5.22  including names of bidders, amounts of bids, and each successful 
  5.23  bid.  After the contract is awarded, this record is open to 
  5.24  public inspection and may be posted on the Internet. 
  5.25     Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 169.825, 
  5.26  subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
  5.27     Subd. 11.  [GROSS WEIGHT SEASONAL INCREASES.] (a) The 
  5.28  limitations provided in this section are increased:  
  5.29     (1) by ten percent from January 1 to March 7 between the 
  5.30  dates set by the commissioner each winter, statewide; 
  5.31     (2) by ten percent from December 1 through December 31 
  5.32  between the dates set by the commissioner each winter, in the 
  5.33  zone bounded as follows:  beginning at Pigeon River in the 
  5.34  northeast corner of Minnesota; thence in a southwesterly 
  5.35  direction along the north shore of Lake Superior along trunk 
  5.36  highway No. 61 to the junction with trunk highway No. 210; 
  6.1   thence westerly along trunk highway No. 210 to the junction with 
  6.2   trunk highway No. 10; thence northwesterly along trunk highway 
  6.3   No. 10 to the Minnesota-North Dakota border; thence northerly 
  6.4   along that border to the Minnesota-Canadian Border; thence 
  6.5   easterly along said Border to Lake Superior; and 
  6.6      (3) by ten percent from the beginning of harvest to 
  6.7   November 30 each year for the movement of sugar beets and 
  6.8   potatoes within an area having a 75-mile radius from the field 
  6.9   of harvest to the point of the first unloading.  The 
  6.10  commissioner shall not issue permits under this clause if to do 
  6.11  so will result in a loss of federal highway funding to the state.
  6.12     (b) The duration of a ten percent increase in load limits 
  6.13  is subject to limitation by order of the commissioner, subject 
  6.14  to implementation of springtime load restrictions, or March 7.  
  6.15     (c) When the ten percent increase is in effect, a permit is 
  6.16  required for a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer 
  6.17  combination that has a gross weight in excess of 80,000 pounds, 
  6.18  an axle group weight in excess of that prescribed in subdivision 
  6.19  10, or a single axle weight in excess of 20,000 pounds and which 
  6.20  travels on interstate routes.  
  6.21     (d) In cases where gross weights in an amount less than 
  6.22  that set forth in this section are fixed, limited, or restricted 
  6.23  on a highway or bridge by or under another section of this 
  6.24  chapter, the lesser gross weight as fixed, limited, or 
  6.25  restricted may not be exceeded and must control instead of the 
  6.26  gross weights set forth in this section.  
  6.27     (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
  6.28  subdivision, no vehicle may exceed a total gross vehicle weight 
  6.29  of 80,000 pounds on routes which have not been designated by the 
  6.30  commissioner under section 169.832, subdivision 11. 
  6.31     (f) The commissioner may, after determining the ability of 
  6.32  the highway structure and frost condition to support additional 
  6.33  loads, grant a permit extending seasonal increases for vehicles 
  6.34  using portions of routes falling within two miles of the 
  6.35  southern boundary of the zone described under paragraph (a), 
  6.36  clause (2).