Senate Bill 5220 reenacts and amends two existing statutes governing municipal public works procurement: RCW 35.22.620 (first-class cities) and RCW 35.23.352 (second-class cities and towns). It preserves the definition of "public works" from RCW 39.04.010 and sets or clarifies procedures, monetary thresholds, reporting duties, contracting options, and wage and bidder-selection rules rather than creating a wholly new crime or penalty scheme. For first-class cities the bill codifies a 10 percent limit on the portion of a public works construction budget that may be performed by city employees in an annual or biennial budget period (including work performed by a county under RCW 35.77.020), requires excess amounts to be deducted from the next period’s limit, and authorizes withholding 20 percent of motor vehicle fuel tax distributions if the excess is not reduced within two years until the city demonstrates reductions to the state auditor. It specifies monetary thresholds ($300,000 when more than one craft or trade is involved; $151,000 for a single craft/trade or certain signalization/lighting projects), treats a public works project as a complete project that may not be divided to avoid limits, allows use of unit priced contracts (initial term up to three years with one-year extension option) with prevailing wage and annual reporting requirements, permits a small works roster alternative, requires annual or biennial reporting to the state auditor, and defines "lowest responsible bidder" with a limited exception allowing selection of the second-lowest bidder within 5% under documented prior-performance findings. For second-class cities and towns the bill authorizes construction by contract or day labor without calling for bids up to the same monetary thresholds, defines "prudent utility management" for work by regularly employed personnel (excluding the value of individual items of equipment), prescribes public bidding procedures (including at least 13 days’ published notice, a bid deposit of at least 5 percent, and a 10-day deadline to enter contract and furnish bond or forfeit deposit), addresses consequences when low bidders claim error, allows readvertising or other options if no bids are received, allows small works roster use, requires use of the RCW 43.09.205 form for certain noncontract work over $5,000, sets purchase-by-contract and alternative purchase-procedure thresholds (references to $40,000, $50,000, and $15,000 limits), permits unit priced contracts with the same prevailing wage and reporting rules, requires annual reporting to the Department of Commerce on awards to certified minority or women contractors, and states that allocation of projects to employees is not subject to collective bargaining and that performance-based contracts under chapter 39.35A are exempt. The provided text ends mid-sentence in the second-class city/town section and omits some subsections and historical text, so other provisions, exceptions, or clarifications that may appear elsewhere in the bill are not available here and could affect interpretation.

If enacted, the bill limits how much public works first-class cities can do with their own crews to 10% of the public works construction budget in each budget period and sets bright-line dollar thresholds for when work must be competitively bid ($300,000 for multi-trade projects; $151,000 for single-trade or street signal/lighting projects). Cities can use multi-year unit price contracts for recurring work (initially up to three years, plus one-year renewal), must pay prevailing wages on those contracts and file annual wage affidavits, and are encouraged to invite at least one certified minority or woman contractor when possible. For second-class cities and towns, similar dollar thresholds allow day labor or no-bid work below those amounts, while work above them must be publicly bid with a 13-day notice, a bid deposit of at least 5%, and a 10-day deadline for the winning bidder to sign and post a bond (forfeited if they fail); agencies also get authority to readvertise, contract without a second call, or do the work in-house if no bids are received. The state auditor will monitor first-class cities’ compliance and the treasurer can withhold 20% of a city’s motor vehicle fuel tax distributions if an excess in employee-performed work is not corrected within two years. Those most affected are city governments, their public works crews, and contractors. First-class cities face tighter limits on using in-house labor, new reporting requirements, and a real risk of losing fuel tax revenues if they exceed the cap and do not reduce it, which could shift costs to contracted work and change budgeting and staffing choices; counties doing work for first-class cities count toward that cap. Second-class cities and towns must follow clearer bidding, deposit, and notice rules and will need to track and report awards to minority/women contractors and comply with prevailing wage and contract-term rules for unit price agreements, which may increase administrative and contract-management work. Some text is missing in the provided excerpts (a sentence ends mid-paragraph and other subsections aren’t shown), so there may be additional procedural details or exceptions not reflected here.