NUCA Government
Relations Team Meets
with DBPR Secretary
Beshears to Discuss Local
Government Issues
C. Scott Jenkins
Government Relations Consultant
Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash
On Wednesday, May 22nd, your NUCA government
relations team, Kari Hebrank and Scott Jenkins,
met with Department of Business and Professional
Regulation Secretary Halsey Beshears to discuss
a couple of issues that have been brought to our
attention by our members regarding unusual actions
by local governments. Currently, Tallahassee has
a climate of reigning in local government actions
that fall outside the scope of statutes or create
unintended consequences on Florida’s business
climate. Secretary Beshears was an avid listener to
the issues our members are facing.
their own requirements. The motives for local
governments to limit their population of possible
applicants is unclear but can lead people to believe
that what might hurt us might be helping another.
Secretary Beshears was concerned and agreed
to research what step the Department could take
to help local governments understand they are in
violation of the law and should comply.
The second issue we discussed also involved local
government RFPs. NUCA members from the St.
Petersburg area have brought to our attention the
city’s requirement that bidders to RFPs must have
an apprenticeship program in their businesses in
order to qualify to bid. While the laymen might view
this as a noble effort to educate and bring more
people in to the construction trades, our members
do not have apprenticeship programs like those
in other construction fields, like electrical, where
apprenticeship is a path to licensure. Because
of this, the City has openly wondered why they
are not receiving bids on some projects from our
members and have been informed why. While
this issue is open to interpretation of the statutes.
Secretary Beshears showed his concern with local
governments creating additional hoops for our
members to help their communities. He is having
his team gather more information for review to
determine what the next course of action may be.
Dependent on what we hear back, this issue might
require a legislative fix.
One issue that has been brought to our attention is
local governments requiring a General Contractors
license on underground utility RFPs that a licensed
Underground Utility Contractor could perform.
As you may know, Florida Statute 255.0992 (2)
(b) states, “The state or any political subdivision
that contracts for a public works project may not
prohibit any contractor, subcontractor, or material
supplier or carrier able to perform such work who
is qualified, licensed, or certified as required by
state law to perform such work from submitting a
bid on the public works project.” By limiting RFPs to
General Contractors, this disqualifies our licensed
Utility Contractors from bidding on the jobs unless
they also have a GC license or are subcontracted
by a General Contractor.
Through our member’s experiences, we know
some of these are caused by simple cutting and
pasting errors from old RFPs, but some local
governments are pushing back and want to set
As always, we will keep you posted on these and
other legislative or regulatory issues that may arise.
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MAY 2019 • DITCHMEN
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