Public works/made in US

AN ACT Relating to products manufactured in the United States for 1
the purposes of public works projects; amending RCW 39.04.010; adding 2
new sections to chapter 39.04 RCW; and creating a new section.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 39.04.010 and 2023 c 395 s 2 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 7
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 8
(1) "Authorized local government" means a political subdivision 9
of the state, school district, or special purpose district with 10
public works authority. 11
(2) "Award" means the formal decision by the state or 12
municipality notifying a responsible bidder with the lowest 13
responsive bid of the state's or municipality's acceptance of the bid 14
and intent to enter into a contract with the bidder.15
(3) "Contract" means a contract in writing for the execution of 16
public work for a fixed or determinable amount duly awarded after 17
advertisement and competitive bid, or a contract awarded under the 18
small works roster process in RCW 39.04.151 through 39.04.154.19
(4) "Manufactured product" means: Articles, materials, or 20
supplies that have been: (i) Processed into a specific form and 21
H-0019.4
HOUSE BILL 1256
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Hill, Ormsby, Ramel, Macri, Nance, and Parshley
Prefiled 01/10/25. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Capital Budget.
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shape; or (ii) combined with other articles, materials, or supplies 1
to create a product with different properties that the individual 2
articles, materials, or supplies. If an item is classified as an iron 3
or steel product, a construction material, or a section 70917 (c) 4
material as defined in Title 2, Part 184 of the Code of Federal 5
Regulations as it existed on December 1, 2024, then it is not a 6
manufactured product for the purposes of this chapter. However, an 7
article, material, or supply classified as a manufactured product may 8
include components that are construction materials, iron or steel 9
products, or section 70917(c) materials. 10
(5) "Manufactured in the United States" means: (a) For iron or 11
steel products, all manufacturing processes, from the initial melting 12
stage through the application of coatings, took place in the United 13
States; and (b) for a manufactured product: (i) The product was 14
manufactured in the United States; and (ii) the cost of the 15
components of the product that are mined, produced, or manufactured 16
in the United States is greater than 55 percent of the total cost of 17
all components of the manufactured product, unless another standard 18
that meets or exceeds this standard has been established under 19
applicable law or regulation for determining the minimum amount of 20
domestic content of the manufactured product.21
(6) "Municipality" means every city, county, town, port district, 22
district, or other public agency authorized by law to require the 23
execution of public work, except drainage districts, diking 24
districts, diking and drainage improvement districts, drainage 25
improvement districts, diking improvement districts, consolidated 26
diking and drainage improvement districts, consolidated drainage 27
improvement districts, consolidated diking improvement districts, 28
irrigation districts, or other districts authorized by law for the 29
reclamation or development of waste or undeveloped lands.30
(((5))) (7) "Public work" means all work, construction, 31
alteration, repair, or improvement other than ordinary maintenance, 32
executed at the cost of the state or of any municipality, or which is 33
by law a lien or charge on any property therein. All public works, 34
including maintenance when performed by contract shall comply with 35
chapter 39.12 RCW. "Public work" does not include work, construction, 36
alteration, repair, or improvement performed under contracts entered 37
into under RCW 36.102.060(4) or under development agreements entered 38
into under RCW 36.102.060(7) or leases entered into under RCW 39
36.102.060(8). 40
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(((6))) (8) "Responsible bidder" means a contractor who meets the 1
criteria in RCW 39.04.350. 2
(((7))) (9) "Small business" means a business meeting 3
certification criteria for size, ownership, control, and personal net 4
worth adopted by the office of minority and women's business 5
enterprises in accordance with RCW 39.19.030. 6
(((8))) (10) "State" means the state of Washington and all 7
departments, supervisors, commissioners, and agencies of the state.8
(((9))) (11) "State agency" means the department of enterprise 9
services, the state parks and recreation commission, the department 10
of natural resources, the department of fish and wildlife, the 11
department of transportation, any institution of higher education as 12
defined under RCW 28B.10.016, and any other state agency delegated 13
authority by the department of enterprise services to engage in 14
construction, building, renovation, remodeling, alteration, 15
improvement, or repair activities. 16
(12) "United States" means the United States of America, 17
including all territories, continental or insular, subject to the 18
jurisdiction of the United States.19
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 39.04 20
RCW to read as follows: 21
(1) The state, a school district, or a municipality entering into 22
a contract for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, 23
improvement, or maintenance of a public building or other public 24
works project receiving more than $500,000 of state funds in a state 25
capital budget or financed through a financing contract as defined in 26
RCW 39.94.020, must require that the iron, steel, aluminum, and 27
manufactured products used or supplied in the performance of the 28
contract or any subcontract be manufactured in the United States, 29
unless otherwise exempted under this section. 30
(2)(a) The requirements of subsection (1) of this section may be 31
waived by the director of the office of financial management on 32
behalf of the state, a school district superintendent on behalf of a 33
school district, or the executive head of a municipality on behalf of 34
a municipality, if he or she determines that: 35
(i) Meeting the requirements would be inconsistent with the 36
public interest; 37
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(ii) Such materials and products are not produced in the United 1
States in sufficient or reasonably available quantities and of 2
satisfactory quality; or 3
(iii) Inclusion of domestically produced material will increase 4
the cost of the overall project contract by more than 25 percent.5
(b)(i) Prior to issuing a waiver under this subsection, the 6
director, superintendent, or executive head must provide public 7
notice on the agency website of the proposed waiver and an 8
opportunity for public comment on the proposal for at least 30 days 9
before making a final determination. The public notice must include 10
information used in making the decision to propose a waiver and the 11
public must be given the opportunity to provide comments 12
electronically. 13
(ii) The director, superintendent, or executive head must publish 14
on the agency website a detailed justification of the decision made 15
that addresses the public comments received. The publication must 16
take place prior to the waiver taking effect. 17
(3) This section applies to public works projects advertised for 18
bids after the effective date of this section. 19
(4) For the purposes of this section, "municipality" means every 20
city, county, town, port district, district, or other public agency 21
authorized by law to require the execution of public work.22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 39.04 23
RCW to read as follows: 24
(1) A contract for a public works project must contain a 25
provision that if a court or a federal or state agency determines 26
that a party to the contract or subcontract intentionally:27
(a) Affixed a label bearing a "Made in America" inscription, or 28
any inscription with the same meaning, to any iron, steel, aluminum, 29
or manufactured product used in public works projects subject to RCW 30
39.04.010, that was not manufactured in the United States, as defined 31
in RCW 39.04.010; or 32
(b) Represented that any iron, steel, aluminum, or manufactured 33
product used in public works projects subject to RCW 39.04.010 that 34
was not manufactured in the United States, was manufactured in the 35
United States; 36
that party shall be ineligible to bid or enter into any public works 37
contract or subcontract pursuant to debarment provisions provided 38
under this title. 39
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(2) Such contracts must provide that in the case of any dispute 1
arising pertaining to the provisions of this section, the matter 2
shall be referred for arbitration to the director of the department 3
of labor and industries of the state and his or her decision shall be 4
final and conclusive and binding on all parties involved in the 5
dispute. 6
SEVERABILITY7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. If any part of this act is found to be in 8
conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to 9
the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of 10
this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with 11
respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not 12
affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application 13
to the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet 14
federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of 15
federal funds by the state.16
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