ASSEMBLY BUDGET COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
[Second Reprint]
SENATE, No. 3041
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 27, 2025
The Assembly Budget Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 3041 (2R).
As amended and reported, under current law, contractors or subcontractors who have failed to pay prevailing wages are prohibited from receiving public works contracts for a period of three years. The bill includes cooperatives in this prohibition. As amended, the bill defines “cooperative” as a system of collective ownership of a corporation or other legal entity in which the shareholders or other co-owners each also have a long term proprietary interest or other long term arrangement of control over the operations of the business.
The bill expands provisions regarding cooperative purchasing agreements with other states, providing that a contracting unit may only purchase and contract for construction services for a public works project through a cooperative purchasing agreement competitively bid in compliance with the bill and let by a contracting unit in the State. Public works projects undertaken by a contracting unit through a cooperative purchasing agreement are subject to the “Public Works Contractor Registration Act,” and the “New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act.”
The bill prohibits contracting units from using time-and-materials contracts available through a cooperative purchasing agreement for public works construction projects subject to the “New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act.” The bill defines “time-and-materials contract” as a contract for the actual costs for materials and acquiring services on the basis of direct labor hours at specified fixed hourly rates that include wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit.
Further, the bill requires accurate, up-to-date information on each contractor, including principal business addresses and contact details. Awarded contractors must submit certified payroll records for every public works project, which the contracting unit is required to keep for at least three years. Contractors that fail to submit required certified payroll records more than three times, or are found in violation of prevailing wage requirements, are barred from performing public works under a cooperative. Contracting units are required to conduct monthly checks against the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s debarment list, terminate any contract or subcontract with a newly debarred party, and publicly post on its website, cost and compliance information for all public works projects completed in the preceding month. Contracting units that fail to comply will be prohibited by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs from serving as a lead agency for a cooperative purchasing agreement.
Finally, as amended, the bill authorizes contracting units to award indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts with a set term for goods or services, including public works, provided the contract is let through a free, open, and competitive process, with a defined procedure for issuing individual purchase orders.
As amended and reported by the committee, Senate Bill No. 3041 (2R) is identical to Assembly Bill No. 4194 (1R), which was also amended and reported by the committee on this date.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
(1) remove the provision that the prohibition from receiving public works contracts will also apply to any corporation or other legal entity which is owned or operated as a cooperative, in which any vendor approved by the cooperative has failed to pay prevailing wages;
(2) modify certain provisions from the past tense to the present tense; and
(3) authorize contracting units to award indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts for goods or services for contracts with a set term.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This bill is not certified as requiring a fiscal note.