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Panel raises restricted commercial license threshold from $750,000 to $1.5 million
Summary
Senate Bill 186, sponsored in committee by Senator Bridal, would increase the single-project threshold that allows contractors to use a restricted commercial license from $750,000 to $1,500,000; committee approved the change by voice vote.
Sen. Bridal (Senate District 32) told the committee that construction costs and labor have risen since the current $750,000 threshold was set, and that raising the threshold to $1.5 million would let small commercial contractors continue to bid on one-off projects without incurring higher CPA and bonding requirements tied to an unrestricted license.
"If I did a project 5 years ago, it might have cost $700,000 with that same project with the cost increases and labor increases are now well in excess of a million dollars," the sponsor said, arguing the current threshold is outdated and forces small contractors to pursue a more costly unrestricted license for isolated jobs.
Contractor members of the committee who spoke in support said the change would reduce compliance costs (a compiled financial statement typically costs far less than an unrestricted-license CPA review and financial report) and improve small businesses' ability to compete. Senators and representatives who are licensed contractors asked whether compiled statements would still be accepted under the higher threshold; the sponsor confirmed compiled statements would remain available up to the new $1.5 million threshold.
The committee approved the bill by voice vote after brief discussion; no roll-call tally appears in the transcript.
