February 17, 2022 - The Senate Committee on Local Government today passed House Bill 1286 out of committee with a 9-0 vote. The bill now moves to the full Senate for consideration. Senator Justin Busch is the lead sponsor on the Senate side. Last month, the bill passed in the House of Representatives. Representative Martin Carbaugh led the effort in the House.

The bill would allow for changes to the solid waste bidding process so that municipalities would be able to use a request for proposals process for garbage and recycling services. Current law sets forth the requirements for local governments to contract with private companies for the collection or disposal of solid waste and requires such contracts to be awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. The City believes it could better serve its residents if it had the opportunity to use the request for proposals bid process in its procurement of solid waste and recycling collection and disposal services.