Connecticut 2022 2022 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00469 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 04/14/2022

                     
 
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General Assembly  Raised Bill No. 469  
February Session, 2022 
LCO No. 3049 
 
 
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT 
ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS 
 
 
Introduced by:  
(GAE)  
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT 
FOR STATE CONTRACTS.  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Section 4-212 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 2 
As used in this section and sections [4-212] 4-213 to 4-219, inclusive: 3 
(1) "Competitive negotiation" means a procedure for contracting for 4 
services in which (A) proposals are solicited from qualified persons, 5 
firms or corporations by a request for proposals or any other form of 6 
competitive procurement, and (B) changes may be negotiated in 7 
proposals and prices after being submitted. 8 
(2) "Competitive procurement" means the purchase or acquisition of 9 
services by a state agency through an open and fair process, where all 10 
responsible entities have an equal opportunity to pursue, and 11 
potentially be selected for, a contract to provide the state agency with 12 
the desired services. 13  Raised Bill No. 469 
 
 
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[(2)] (3) "Personal service contractor" means any person, firm or 14 
corporation not employed by the state, who is hired by a state agency 15 
for a fee to provide services to the agency. The term "personal service 16 
contractor" [shall] does not include (A) a person, firm or corporation 17 
providing "contractual services", as defined in section 4a-50, as 18 
amended by this act, to the state, (B) a "consultant", as defined in section 19 
4b-55, (C) a "consultant", as defined in section 13b-20b, (D) an agency of 20 
the federal government, of the state or of a political subdivision of the 21 
state, or (E) a person, firm or corporation providing consultant services 22 
for information and telecommunications systems authorized under 23 
subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of section 4d-2. 24 
[(3)] (4) "Personal service agreement" means a written agreement 25 
defining the services or end product to be delivered by a personal 26 
service contractor to a state agency, excluding any agreement with a 27 
personal service contractor that the state accounting manual does not 28 
require to be submitted to the Comptroller. 29 
[(4)] (5) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 30 
Management. 31 
[(5)] (6) "State agency" means a department, board, council, 32 
commission, institution or other executive branch agency.  33 
Sec. 2. Section 4-214 of the general statutes is repealed and the 34 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 35 
Each personal service agreement executed (1) on or after July 1, 1994, 36 
until June 30, 2023, and having a cost of not more than twenty thousand 37 
dollars  and a term of not more than one year, and (2) on or after July 1, 38 
2023, and having a cost of not more than fifty thousand dollars and a 39 
term of not more than one year, shall be based, when possible, on 40 
competitive negotiation or competitive quotations. 41 
Sec. 3. Section 4-215 of the general statutes is repealed and the 42 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 43  Raised Bill No. 469 
 
 
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(a) Each personal service agreement executed on or after July 1, 1994, 44 
until June 30, 2023, and having a cost of more than twenty thousand 45 
dollars but not more than fifty thousand dollars and a term of not more 46 
than one year, or executed on or after July 1, 2023, and having a cost of 47 
more than fifty thousand dollars and a term of not more than one year, 48 
shall be based on competitive negotiation or competitive quotations, 49 
unless the state agency purchasing the personal services determines that 50 
a sole source purchase is required and applies to the secretary for a 51 
waiver from such requirement and the secretary grants the waiver. Not 52 
later than March 1, 1994, the secretary shall adopt guidelines for 53 
determining the types of services that may qualify for such waivers. The 54 
qualifying services shall include, but not be limited to, (1) services for 55 
which the cost to the state of a competitive selection procedure would 56 
outweigh the benefits of such procedure, as documented by the state 57 
agency, (2) proprietary services, (3) services to be provided by a 58 
contractor mandated by the general statutes or a public or special act, 59 
and (4) emergency services, including services needed for the protection 60 
of life or health. The secretary shall post any approvals of requests for a 61 
waiver received under this section on the State Contracting Portal. Not 62 
later than January 15, 2020, and annually thereafter, the secretary shall 63 
submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to 64 
the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 65 
cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state 66 
agencies and government administration and the State Contracting 67 
Standards Board listing any such waiver requests received during the 68 
prior year and the justification for the grant or denial of such request. 69 
(b) [The secretary] Prior to submitting an application to the secretary 70 
for approval of a sole source purchase of audit services, the state agency 71 
shall [immediately] notify the Auditors of Public Accounts of any 72 
[application that the secretary receives for approval of a sole source 73 
purchase of audit services] such intended application and give the 74 
auditors the opportunity to review the application to advise the state 75 
agency and secretary as to whether such services are necessary and, if 76 
so, whether such services could be provided by said auditors. 77  Raised Bill No. 469 
 
 
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Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 4-216 of the 2022 supplement to the 78 
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 79 
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 80 
(a) No state agency may execute a personal service agreement having 81 
a cost of more than fifty thousand dollars or a term of more than one 82 
year, without the approval of the secretary. A state agency may apply 83 
for an approval by submitting the following information to the 84 
secretary: (1) A description of the services to be purchased and the need 85 
for such services; (2) an estimate of the cost of the services and the term 86 
of the agreement; (3) whether the services are to be on-going; (4) 87 
whether the state agency has contracted out for such services during the 88 
preceding two years and, if so, the name of the contractor, term of the 89 
agreement with such contractor and the amount paid to the contractor; 90 
(5) whether any other state agency has the resources to provide the 91 
services; (6) whether the agency intends to purchase the services by 92 
competitive negotiation and, if not, why; and (7) whether it is possible 93 
to purchase the services on a cooperative basis with other state agencies. 94 
The secretary shall approve or disapprove an application [within] not 95 
later than fifteen business days after receiving it and any necessary 96 
supporting information. [, provided if the secretary does not act within 97 
such fifteen-day period the application shall be deemed to have been 98 
approved. The secretary shall immediately notify the Auditors of Public 99 
Accounts of any application which the secretary receives] Prior to 100 
submitting an application for approval of a personal services agreement 101 
for audit services to the secretary, the state agency shall notify the 102 
Auditors of Public Accounts of such intended application and give said 103 
auditors an opportunity to review the application during such fifteen-104 
day period and advise the state agency and secretary as to whether such 105 
audit services are necessary and, if so, could be provided by said 106 
auditors. 107 
Sec. 5. Subsection (a) of section 4-217 of the general statutes is 108 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 109 
1, 2022): 110  Raised Bill No. 469 
 
 
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(a) [Not later than March 1, 1994, the] The Secretary of the Office of 111 
Policy and Management shall establish standards for state agencies to 112 
follow in entering into personal service agreements. The standards shall 113 
include, but not be limited to, provisions for: (1) Evaluating the need to 114 
use a personal service agreement, (2) developing a request for proposals 115 
or any other form of competitive procurement, (3) advertising for 116 
personal service contractors, (4) evaluating submitted proposals, (5) 117 
selecting a personal service contractor, including compliance with 118 
section 4a-60g, (6) systematically monitoring and evaluating personal 119 
service contractor performance, (7) documenting the entire process for 120 
selecting and managing personal service contractors, and (8) carrying 121 
out any other aspect of such process. 122 
Sec. 6. Subsection (a) of section 4-218 of the general statutes is 123 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 124 
1, 2022): 125 
(a) Not later than October 1, 2009, and annually thereafter, the 126 
secretary shall submit a report to the General Assembly indicating (1) 127 
for each personal service agreement, pursuant to sections 4-214 to 4-216, 128 
inclusive, as amended by this act, and executed during the preceding 129 
fiscal year, (A) the name of the personal service contractor, (B) a 130 
description of the services provided, (C) the term and cost of the 131 
agreement, and (D) the method of selecting the personal service 132 
contractor; and (2) for each such agreement either executed or otherwise 133 
in effect during the preceding fiscal year, (A) the amount of all payments 134 
made during the preceding fiscal year to the personal service contractor, 135 
[and] (B) the amount of any federal or private funds allocated for such 136 
payments, and (C) the total amount of all such payments.  137 
Sec. 7. Section 4a-50 of the general statutes is repealed and the 138 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 139 
When used in this chapter, unless the context indicates a different 140 
meaning:  141  Raised Bill No. 469 
 
 
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(1) "State agency" includes any officer, department, board, council, 142 
commission, institution or other agency of the Executive Department of 143 
the state government;  144 
(2) "Supplies", "materials" and "equipment" mean any and all articles 145 
of personal property furnished to or used by any state agency, including 146 
all printing, binding, publication of laws, stationery, forms, and reports;  147 
(3) "Contractual services" means any and all laundry and cleaning 148 
service, pest control service, janitorial service, security service, the rental 149 
and repair, or maintenance, of equipment, machinery and other state-150 
owned personal property, advertising [and photostating, 151 
mimeographing,] and other service arrangements where the services are 152 
provided by persons other than state employees;  153 
(4) "Competitive bidding" means the submission of prices by persons, 154 
firms or corporations competing for a contract to provide supplies, 155 
materials, equipment or contractual services, under a procedure in 156 
which the contracting authority does not negotiate prices;  157 
(5) "Competitive negotiation" means a procedure for contracting for 158 
supplies, materials, equipment or contractual services, in which (A) 159 
proposals are solicited from qualified suppliers by a request for 160 
proposals or any other form of competitive procurement, and (B) 161 
changes may be negotiated in proposals and prices after being 162 
submitted;  163 
(6) "Competitive procurement" means the purchase or acquisition of 164 
services by a state agency through an open and fair process, where all 165 
responsible entities have an equal opportunity to pursue, and 166 
potentially be selected for, a contract to provide the state agency with 167 
the desired services; 168 
[(6)] (7) "Bidder" means a person, firm or corporation submitting a 169 
competitive bid in response to a solicitation or any other form of 170 
competitive procurement; and  171  Raised Bill No. 469 
 
 
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[(7)] (8) "Proposer" means a person, firm or corporation submitting a 172 
proposal in response to a request for proposals or any other form of 173 
competitive procurement.  174 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 October 1, 2022 4-212 
Sec. 2 October 1, 2022 4-214 
Sec. 3 October 1, 2022 4-215 
Sec. 4 October 1, 2022 4-216(a) 
Sec. 5 October 1, 2022 4-217(a) 
Sec. 6 October 1, 2022 4-218(a) 
Sec. 7 October 1, 2022 4a-50 
 
GAE Joint Favorable