House bill would raise predesign threshold to reduce delays, sponsor says
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Summary
House Bill 2353 would raise the statutory predesign threshold for state-funded capital projects from $10 million to $15 million and require OFM to adjust that threshold annually for inflation beginning July 1, 2027; sponsor and witnesses said the change could reduce delays and save money on routine projects.
House Bill 2353, sponsored by Representative Keaton, would increase the dollar threshold at which state-funded capital projects must complete a statutory "predesign" from $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 and require the Office of Financial Management to adjust that threshold annually for inflation using the C100 form starting July 1, 2027.
In a staff briefing, John Wilson explained predesign as a planning and analysis step that identifies the problem, analyzes alternatives and develops a budget estimate. "Under the bill before the committee, the statutory threshold for capital construction projects requiring predesign is increased from $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 and OFM is required to adjust this threshold annually for inflation using the C100 form's inflation factor beginning 07/01/2027," he said.
Representative Keaton told the committee the bill grew out of budget cuts and requests from colleges and universities and argued the change would prevent costly delays. He cited the Department of Corrections replacing a roof valued at $12.5 million that he said was delayed six to 12 months for predesign work and "costs an additional $275,000." "So that is direct savings that we would get," Keaton said.
Steve DuPont, testifying for higher education interests, said the bill "is simply to take care of inflation" and that increasing the threshold would reduce administrative burden, shorten project timelines and reduce escalation costs that occur when projects are split across biennia.
Staff noted a fiscal note in the committee materials; OFM indicated it would incorporate the inflationary adjustment in existing budget instructions and did not anticipate implementation costs, though staff said the bill could plausibly produce an indeterminate amount of future capital budget savings as fewer projects would require predesign.
The committee did not take final action on HB 2353 at this hearing; the vice chair closed the public hearing after testimony and moved on to the next agenda item.