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Appropriations committee backs raising JLCB change-order threshold to $250,000
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee voted to report House Bill 347 favorably, raising the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget (JLCB) approval threshold for capital outlay change orders from $100,000 to $250,000 while keeping public reporting requirements at $50,000.
The Louisiana House Appropriations Committee on April 22 voted to report House Bill 347 favorably, a measure that raises the dollar threshold that triggers Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget review of capital outlay change orders from $100,000 to $250,000.
The bill, introduced for Senator Wilma by Representative Gabbard, is intended to reduce project delays and avoid the extra costs that can occur while agencies wait for JLCB approval. "The requirement which I appreciate of JLCB to approve a change order is, I believe, a necessary process, but it does in some cases cause the cost of the change orders to increase simply due to the delay," said Roger Husser, director of Facility Planning and Control, in committee testimony.
Husser told the committee the threshold has been unchanged since 2008 and noted that the statutory competitive-bid contract limit was increased to $250,000 several years ago. He said the measure aligns the JLCB change-order approval threshold with inflation and recent contract limits and that FP&C and other agencies would still publicly report change orders of $50,000 or more.
Committee members asked about safeguards against contractors low-bidding and later seeking repeated change orders. Husser said oversight and project management are the primary protections and that many change orders are supported by unit prices or recommendations from design professionals. Representative Romero pressed whether supplemental funding would be required if a change order exceeded a project’s funded amount; Husser said such supplemental funding would come through other mechanisms, not JLCB approval.
Representative Marcel cited that, over the past 24 months, the committee had approved 22 change orders above $100,000 — about eight of which fell between $100,000 and $250,000 — and said he supported the bill.
Vice Chair Ilk moved to report the bill favorable. Without objection the committee reported House Bill 347 favorable.
The bill will now proceed through the legislative process with the committee recommendation recorded.
