Gov. Tim Kaine on Tuesday attacked a Virginia House measure that would force him to re-bid the ailing Dulles Rail project, arguing it would scrap a contract “willy-nilly” and deter companies from doing business with the commonwealth.
Two delegates — Dave Albo, R-Springfield, and Joe May, R-Leesburg — slipped the provision into an end-of-year budget bill passed by the House last week, seeking to put the 23-mile rail expansion’s first phase out for competitive bidding.
Proponents argue the move is an attempt to drive down the cost of the project after the Federal Transit Administration warned it is too expensive to receive a critical $900 million in federal funding, among other qualms. But Kaine, in an interview on WTOP’s “Ask the Governor” radio program, questioned the benefits of dumping the existing construction contract with Bechtel Infrastructure and Washington Group International.
“You can’t just willy-nilly tell your contractor, ‘Hey, you’re out the window — we’re going to rebid it,’ because then nobody will want to do business with you ever again, if they felt like ‘we went through a competitive process and we got a contract, you’re going to
throw it out and rebid it?’ ” Kaine said.
Dulles Rail has drawn accusations as a “no-bid” contract since its inception, because officials opted for a public-private partnership instead of the standard procurement process. The state did publicly seek proposals, though only two contractors responded — Bechtel and Washington Group. They were then folded into a single consortium of Dulles Transit Partners. The price of the project was negotiated in private.
The U.S. Department of Transportation called competition for the Dulles Rail project “limited.”
Albo said competitive bidding, and possibly splitting the project into smaller parts, could reduce its price tag. The cost of the new track is disputed; the FTA puts it at more than $3 billion, which project officials argue is overblown.
“I’m just stating the facts, and the facts are the FTA is not going to give us $900 million unless we do something different,” Albo said.
