The Senate concurred with the House’s amendments to SB 6040, described below, and adopted the engrossed version of the bill by a unanimous vote. The bill now awaits final signatures.

The Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB) will review the bill this year and report its recommendations to the Legislature by November 1, 2024.

Prompt payment in public works proposal sent to CPARB for review

March 1, 2024

A striking amendment to SB 6040 has been adopted in committee, directing the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB) to review the extent to which prompt-pay statutes meet the needs of small businesses, particularly women- and minority-owned businesses, and to make findings and any recommendations the Board develops. CPARB must engage stakeholders throughout the review process and must present its findings to the Legislature by November 1, 2024.

In honor of the underlying bill’s intent, as part of its review, CPARB is directed to consider requiring that state and local entities pay the prime contractor within 30 days for work satisfactorily completed or materials delivered by a subcontractor of any tier that is a small, women- or minority-owned business. It must also consider requiring that, within 10 days of receipt of payment, the prime contractor and each higher tier subcontractor make payment to its subcontractor until the subcontractor that is a certified small business or women- or minority-owned business has received payment.

AWC was among those who advocated for CPARB to review the bill.

SB 6040 passed the House floor by a unanimous vote and now heads back to the Senate for concurrence.

Prompt payment bill shape-shifts again, passes to opposite chamber

February 13, 2024

SB 6040 was further amended in the Senate last week before passing off the floor.

The amendment to the bill removes the provision requiring contractors to promptly pay subcontractors that are minority- or women-owned small businesses. Now, the bill requires the state to pay a prime contractor within 30 days for work satisfactorily completed, or materials delivered, by a subcontractor of any tier that is a certified or recognized women- or minority-owned small business. Within 10 days of receiving payment from the state, the prime contractor and each higher tier subcontractor must pay its subcontractor until the subcontractor that is a women- or minority-owned small business receives payment.

The bill’s effective date was pushed out to July 1, 2025.

SB 6040 as amended was voted out of the Senate and now moves to the opposite chamber for consideration. AWC will stay actively engaged with the bill sponsor and other stakeholders in the development of this legislation.

Proposal to ensure prompt payments to subcontractors on public works receives clarifying amendments, passes out of committee

February 1, 2024

SB 6040, also known as the “prompt pay bill,” picked up several amendments last week in Committee after the bill received substantial feedback from stakeholders, including AWC.

The bill was updated to:

• Clarify that contractors must promptly pay subcontractors that are minority or women-owned small businesses.
• Clarify that prompt payment is due to the subcontractor once the subcontractors work is “satisfactorily completed” or materials are delivered.
• Add that, when a public owner has made an incremental acceptance of a portion of a prime contract, the work of a subcontractor covered by the incremental acceptance is deemed satisfactorily complete, and payment to the subcontractor must be made within 30 days from that time.
• Take effect July 1, 2024.

Please submit feedback to AWC on the bill’s potential impacts to your city.

SB 6040 passed out of the Senate State Government & Elections Committee and currently awaits floor action.

Timing requirement for payments to subcontractors on public works projects would be significantly restricted by new bill

January 12, 2024

A proposed modification to public works law would update requirements for payments made to subcontractors who work on a public project.

SB 6040, from Sen. Javier Valdez (D–Seattle), adds a requirement that payments to subcontractors that are small, women, and minority-owned, or disadvantaged enterprises must be made within 30 days from the time the work is accepted by the state or municipality. This would be regardless of when the prime contractor is paid for their work. As the bill is currently written, it is unclear if a city would be required to pay a subcontractor in the event that the prime contractor has not paid the subcontractor.

AWC requests city feedback on the bill prior to Friday’s hearing. Specifically, please let us know potential impacts of the legislation and policies that your city may have adopted to address issues with subcontractor payments.

AWC requests city feedback on the bill prior to Friday’s hearing.

Date to remember

SB 6040 is scheduled for public hearing in the Senate State Government & Elections Committee on Friday, January 19, at 8 am.