Pizza, potholes and the case for smart local procurement

An unlikely hero emerged a handful of years ago to fix a nagging problem that bedevils nearly every American.

Domino’s Pizza began filling potholes, including in Georgia, to supposedly safeguard their pizzas’ integrity. It was an obvious marketing ploy, which has since ended, but it laid bare our infrastructure’s sad reality. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave Georgia a middling C+ for its infrastructure, and some locales are worse than others and need help.

Without the pizza delivery company’s aid, Georgia is left to deal with this issue on its own. While Gov. Brian Kemp and the General Assembly have laudably endeavored to fund important infrastructure projects, unmistakable gaps exist. Unfortunately, current Georgia law perpetuates further gaps, cost overruns and risks to Georgians’ well-being at the local level.

Some of these troubling matters stem from an outmoded procurement method, which Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, is attempting to fix via Senate Bill 51. If passed, the measure would require local governments to use a process known as Qualifications-Based Selection — or QBS — in the acquisition of design services from engineers, architects, land surveyors and so forth for public works. This legislation may sound like a snooze, but it could prove to be a lifesaver.

Instead of awarding contracts for bridge, road and sewage design to the lowest bidder, under a QBS system, local governments would request qualifications from engineering and architectural firms. Then local officials would determine who is the most qualified to complete the project and open negotiations with them. If they cannot agree on a price, then the government can move on to the second-most qualified group. In this way, officials prioritize quality as they direct taxpayer money to critical public works.

This isn’t some untested model, either. Laws require its use at the federal and state levels, but local governments are not subject to this, which poses problems. The fear is that some locals request proposals for designing public works and award contracts to whoever will do it for the cheapest price — to the detriment of Georgians.

Studies have shown that prioritizing qualifications over the lowest bid can reduce cost overruns and construction delays, and focusing on quality should produce superior designs — meaning safer public works with longer lifespans. In short, quality planning and designing can save taxpayer money in the long run and result in more secure structures.

This is why the overwhelming majority of states require that locals use QBS. It may also be the reason the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia touted the use of QBS and its virtues in its 2020 Policy Platform, although the organization has opposed efforts to make it law. This is curious, given the stakes and that QBS is widely considered the gold standard.

To put this into perspective, consider an entirely different application. There’s a bill making its way through the General Assembly that would require every public school to install weapon detection systems. It is heart wrenching that we live in a world in which this is necessary to protect children from violent killers, but something must be done.

So how would voters respond if this legislation became law but charged locals with purchasing metal detectors designed at the cheapest rate possible, instead of the best quality? (To be clear, the legislation doesn’t do this.) There would be an outcry. Children’s lives are invaluable and shouldn’t be trusted to equipment, such as this, that might fail.

QBS may also be a life-and-death issue. There have been a number of out-of-state infrastructure failures in which low bid was a factor and resulted in casualties. Faulty bridges, roads and sewage systems pose serious hazards when they are based on subpar designs. In an effort to fortify Georgia against these tragedies and protect taxpayers from wasteful spending, Setzler has made passing a QBS law a multi-year effort. Last year, SB 51 passed the state Senate 54-1, and it awaits approval in the House.

Georgia’s legislative session is scheduled to adjourn on April 2, and all bills that do not pass by then will be officially dead. Setzler’s legislation seems like an easy win, but getting across the finish line is rarely guaranteed. There are myriad competing proposals and only limited time. If lawmakers balk at this again, then it may take more than Domino’s Pizza to come to Georgia’s rescue.

Marc Hyden is the senior director of state government affairs at the R Street Institute. You can follow him on X at @marc_hyden.