SB 979 — Requiring Division of Highways publish project bids on its website

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION IntroducedCommittee Substitute for Senate Bill 979 ByBY SenatorSENATORRUCKER RuckerANROSE [Introduced[Reported February 18,24, 2026;2026, from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure] CS for SB 979 A BILL to amend and reenact §17-4-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to advertisements for work and materials for state roads and bridges;

referredeliminating torequirement thefor Committeelegal onadvertisement Transportationin andnewspaper; Infrastructure] Intr SB 979 2026R4159 A BILL to amend and reenact §17-4-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to roads and highways;

and requiring theadvertisement Commissioneron website of theDepartment Division of HighwaysTransportation publishat projectleast bids14 oncalendar theirdays website.in advance of contracting or letting;

and authorizing Commissioner of Division of Highways to publish advertisements.

CHAPTERARTICLE 17.4.

ROADSSTATE ANDROAD HIGHWAYSSYSTEM. §17-4-19.

CONTRACTS§17-4-19. FOR CONSTRUCTION, MATERIALS, ETC.;

WORKContracts BYfor PRISONconstruction, LABOR,materials, ETC.;etc.;

BIDDINGwork PROCEDURE.by prison labor, etc.;

(a)bidding Allprocedure. work of construction and reconstruction of state roads and bridges, and the furnishing of all materials and supplies therefor, and for the repair thereof shall be done and furnished pursuant to contract, except that the commissioner may not be required to award any contract for work which can be done advantageously, economically and practicably by commission forces or prison labor and by use of state road equipment, or for materials and supplies, which are manufactured, processed or assembled by the commissioner:

(a) All work of construction and reconstruction of state roads and bridges, and the furnishing of all materials and supplies therefor, and for the repair thereof shall be done and furnished pursuant to contract, except that the commissioner may not be required to award any contract for work which can be done advantageously, economically, and practicably by commission forces or prison labor and by use of state road equipment, or for materials and supplies, which are manufactured, processed, or assembled by the commissioner:

In all the work, the commissioner shall utilize state road forces or prison labor and state road equipment and shall manufacture, processprocess, and assemble all the materials and supplies for the work whenever and wherever the commissioner, in his or her discretion, finds work and services advantageous, economicaleconomical, and practicable in the state road program.

(b) If the work is to be done, or the materials therefor are to be furnished by contract, the commissioner shall thereupon publish the following described advertisement as a Class II legal advertisement, in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for the publication shall be the county or municipality in which the road lies at least 14 calendar days in advance of any letting.contracting or letting on the website of the West CS for SB 979 Virginia Department of Transportation and may, in addition, publish it in any print or digital media and on any platform or website approved by the commissioner.

(c) The publicationadvertisement shall also be madepublished onat theleast websiteonce ofin theat Westleast Virginiaone Departmentdaily ofnewspaper Transportationpublished asin wellthe ascity anyof otherCharleston electronic medium approved by the commissioner, and may also be published in anyother newspaper,journals journal or magazinemagazines approvedas bymay to the commissioner.commissioner seem advisable.

asThe aadvertisement Classshall IIsolicit legalsealed advertisement,proposals infor compliancethe withconstruction theor provisionsother improvement of articlethe three,road, chapterand fifty-ninefor the furnishing of thismaterials code,therefor, andaccurately describing the publicationsame, areaand forstating the publicationtime shalland beplace thefor countyopening orthe Intrproposals SBand 979reserving 2026R4159the municipalityright into whichreject theany roadand lies.all proposals:

(c) The advertisement shall also be published at least once in at least one daily newspaper published in the city of Charleston and in other journals or magazines as may to the commissioner seem advisable The advertisement shall solicit sealed proposals for the construction or other improvement of the road, and for the furnishing of materials therefor, accurately describing the same, and stating the time and place for opening the proposals and reserving the right to reject any and all proposals:

NOTE:(d) The commissioner shall have the power to prescribe proper prequalifications of contractors bidding on state road construction work:

TheProvided, purposeThat ofa thisvendor billwho ishas tobeen removedebarred pursuant to the requirementprovisions of the§5A-3-33a Commissioner§5A-3-33b through §5A-3-33f of Highwaysthis tocode publishmay projectnot bidsbid inon dailyor newspapers.be awarded a contract under this section.

Strike-throughs(e) indicateTo languageall thatsealed wouldproposals there shall be strickenattached fromthe acertified headingcheck of the bidder or bidder's bond acceptable to the presentcommissioner, lawin andthe underscoringamount indicatesas newthe languagecommissioner thatshall wouldspecify bein added.the advertisement, but not to exceed five percent of the aggregate amount of the bid;

but the amount shall never be less than $5.

The proposals shall be publicly opened and read at the time and place specified in the advertisement, and the contract for the work, or for the supplies or materials required therefor shall, if let, be awarded by the commissioner to the lowest responsible bidder for the type of construction selected.

CS for SB 979 (f) In case all bids be are rejected, the commissioner may thereafter do the work with commission forces or with prison labor or may readvertise in the same manner as before and let a contract for the work pursuant thereto.