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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 473
AN ACT CONCERNING THE STATE CONTRACTING STANDARDS
BOARD.
SUMMARY
This bill makes several changes that increase the State Contracting
Standards Board’s (SCSB) powers, duties, and resources. It appropriates
$467,055 to SCSB in FY 23 to hire five full-time employees and grants the
board certain protections against modifying its budget request and
reducing its allotments. It also subjects quasi-public agencies to the
board’s full authority, including the law on privatization contracts, by
defining them as “contracting agencies” under the board’s authorizing
statutes.
Separately, the bill requires agency procurement officers to advise
bidders, proposers, and contractors about certain rights enforced by
SCSB (e.g., the right to contest a contract solicitation or award). It also
(1) requires contracting agencies to post information on their websites
about certain emergency procurements they enter into and (2) limits, to
emergency situations, the Department of Administrative Services’
(DAS) use of on-call construction services consultants.
Lastly, the bill makes other minor, technical, and conforming
changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2022, except that the provision on budget
request modifications and allotment reductions is effective upon
passage.
§§ 1, 2, 4 & 52 — SCSB BUDGET AND STAFFING
The bill requires SCSB to hire five employees by September 22, 2022,
and requires that it employ at least five full-time employees on an
ongoing basis. It appropriates $467,055 to SCSB in FY 23 for this
purpose. (The 2021 budget act appropriated $637,029 to SCSB in FY 23 2022SB-00473-R000474-BA.DOCX
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(SA 21-15); however, the 2021 implementer required that $454,355 of this
amount lapse on July 1, 2022 (PA 21-2, June Special Session (JSS), § 201).)
The bill requires the Office of Policy and Management (OPM)
secretary to include in the proposed budget documents that OPM
submits to the legislature the estimates of expenditure requirements,
together with any recommended adjustments and revisions, the office
receives from SCSB’s executive director. It also prohibits the governor
from reducing SCSB’s allotment requisitions or allotments in force.
Existing law grants these same protections to the (1) Office of State
Ethics (CGS § 1-81a), (2) Freedom of Information Commission (CGS § 1-
205a), and (3) State Elections Enforcement Commission (CGS § 9-7c).
§§ 3-18 & 22-51 — SCSB AUTHORITY OVER QUASI -PUBLIC
AGENCIES
Under current law, SCSB has limited authority over quasi-public
agencies, as, with one exception, SCSB’s authorizing statutes generally
exclude them from the definition of “state contracting agency.” (Most of
SCSB’s powers and duties apply to state contracting agencies only, see
BACKGROUND .)
The bill instead subjects quasi-public agencies to SCSB’s full
authority, with limited exceptions. It accomplishes this by changing
“state contracting agency” to “contracting agency,” defining
“contracting agency” to include quasi-public agencies (see § 3), and
making conforming changes throughout the bill.
Table 1 below lists a selection of SCSB statutes applicable to state
contracting agencies that the bill extends to quasi-public agencies.
However, the bill does not extend provisions concerning contractor,
bidder, or proposer suspensions issued by state agencies (§§ 31-33).
Table 1: Selected SCSB Statutes Applicable to Quasi-Public Agencies Under the Bill
Section Statute Description
5 CGS § 4e-3 SCSB may exercise quasi-public agencies' contracting-
related powers, rights, and duties
6 CGS § 4e-4 SCSB must review, certify, and periodically recertify quasi-
public agency procurement processes 2022SB-00473-R000474-BA.DOCX
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Section Statute Description
7 CGS § 4e-5 Quasi-public agencies must appoint a procurement officer
8 CGS § 4e-6 SCSB must audit each quasi-public agency's compliance with
procurement laws and regulations every three years
9 CGS § 4e-7 SCSB may, under specified conditions, (1) review and
terminate quasi-public agency contracts and procurement
agreements or (2) restrict or terminate the quasi-public
agency's ability to enter into contracts or procurement
agreements
12 CGS § 4e-14 Quasi-public agency contracts must contain provisions
ensuring accountability, transparency, and results-based
outcomes, as prescribed by SCSB (it appears SCSB has not
prescribed any such standards for state contracting agencies
to date)
13 CGS § 4e-16 Quasi-public agencies must comply with the privatization law
(see below)
16 CGS § 4e-19 Quasi-public agencies must use specified procurement
methods when purchasing goods and services (these
provisions require SCSB to adopt implementing regulations
before they become operative, but the board has not adopted
them to date)
34 CGS § 4e-39 Quasi-public agency solicitations or proposed awards are
subject to cancellation if SCSB finds that a violation of the law
has occurred
35 CGS § 4e-40 SCSB may, after a quasi-public agency contract is awarded,
take certain actions, including terminating the contract, if
SCSB finds it violates the law
Separately, the bill adds four representatives of quasi-public agencies
to the Contracting Standards Advisory Council, two each appointed by
the House speaker and Senate president (§ 10). By law, the council must
meet at least four times per year and make recommendations to SCSB
for improving procurement processes.
§§ 3 & 13 — PRIVATIZATION LAW
Application to Quasi-Public Agencies
The bill applies the privatization law to quasi-public agencies. Under
current law, it applies only to state contracting agencies.
Under this law, if a contracting agency seeks to enter into a contract
that privatizes services performed by state employees, it generally must 2022SB-00473-R000474-BA.DOCX
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conduct a cost-benefit analysis and submit a business case to SCSB for
its approval. The business case must include, among other things, the
cost-benefit analysis and 11 other analyses (the bill adds one more, see
below) relating to the privatized service, such as its goals and their
rationale, and options for achieving them (CGS § 4e-16(d)). An agency
may publish notice soliciting bids for a privatization contract only after
the board approves the business case (CGS § 4e-16(i)).
For privatization contracts not subject to this requirement (i.e.,
contracts for services that are currently privatized), contracting agencies
must instead evaluate the contract, using a template prescribed by the
OPM secretary, to determine if entering into or renewing it is the most
cost-effective way to deliver the service (CGS § 4e-16(p)).
Other Changes
As described above, existing law requires contracting agencies to
conduct a business case, consisting of multiple analyses, for a service it
seeks to privatize. The bill requires that the business case additionally
include an analysis of a proposed contract’s potential impact on workers
of color or workers who are women, including whether it will lessen or
increase historical patterns that produce inequities between these
workers and other workers.
The bill also expands the definition of “core governmental function”
under the privatization statute to include the provision of essential
human services to state residents who would otherwise lack the support
necessary to assure basic human needs. The privatization statute
establishes a rebuttable presumption that “core governmental
functions” should not be privatized.
§ 7 — AGENCY PROCUREMENT OFFICERS
Existing law requires the head of each state contracting agency to
appoint an agency procurement officer who must, among other things,
(1) assure that contractors are properly screened before a contract award
and (2) evaluate contractor performance during and at the conclusion of
a contract. (The bill extends this requirement to quasi-public agencies.)
The bill additionally requires procurement officers to advise bidders, 2022SB-00473-R000474-BA.DOCX
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proposers, and contractors of certain rights enforced by SCSB. These are
(1) bidders’ and proposers’ right to contest a contract solicitation or
award and (2) SCSB’s authority to determine that a solicitation,
proposed award, or actual award violated the law.
Under the bill, the procurement officers must ensure that (1) each bid,
RFP (request for proposals), or other solicitation for goods and services
contains a notice of these rights; (2) contractors are advised of these
rights before entering a contract; and (3) unsuccessful bidders,
proposers, and respondents are advised of these rights when the
contract is awarded.
§§ 17-21 — EMERGENCY PROCUREMENTS
Purchases of $10,000 or Less (§ 17)
The law allows SCSB, in consultation with the DAS commissioner, to
waive competitive bidding or negotiation requirements for minor,
nonrecurring, or emergency purchases of $10,000 or less. The bill allows
it to do so upon application by a contracting agency. It requires
contracting agencies that obtain this waiver to post notice of the
emergency purchase on their websites before making the purchase.
(Existing law also allows the DAS commissioner to waive these
requirements for similar reasons without consulting the board (CGS §
4a-57(b)).)
Threats to Public Health, Welfare, or Safety (§ 18)
Current law requires SCSB to adopt regulations permitting
emergency procurements when there exists a threat to public health,
welfare, or safety. (In practice, the board has not done so.) The bill
instead directly allows contracting agencies to enter into these
procurements and makes the board’s adoption of regulations
permissive.
The bill requires contracting agencies to (1) notify SCSB about the
need for the procurement and (2) post on their websites their written
determination of the basis for the emergency and selection of the
particular contractor. As under existing law, this determination must
also be in the contract file and transmitted to the governor and
legislative leaders. 2022SB-00473-R000474-BA.DOCX
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Existing law allows the DAS commissioner or the state’s chief
information officer to permit emergency procurements, subject to the
approval of the Standardization Committee if the cost is $50,000 or more
(CGS § 4a-58).
On-Call Construction Consultant Contracts (§§ 19 & 20)
The law allows the DAS commissioner to establish a list of “on call”
construction services consultants (e.g., architects, professional
engineers, accountants, and others, see BACKGROUND). Under the
bill, DAS may enter into contracts with on-call consultants, without
inviting responses from the consultants, only for an emergency
procurement due to a threat to public health, welfare, or safety. It makes
a conforming change to a statute concerning on-call consultants
specifically for Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
and Military Department projects.
"Fast-Track" Projects (§ 21)
The bill limits, to emergency procurements, DAS’s ability to use
existing law’s “fast-track authority” for five specified capital projects.
Under the fast-track process, the DAS commissioner submits three or
more qualified general contractors who are prequalified to an award
panel, which then makes a recommendation to the commissioner. The
law establishes five fast-track projects: a community court project, the
downtown Hartford higher education center project, a correctional
facility project, a juvenile detention center project, and Connecticut State
University System student dormitories.
BACKGROUN D
SCSB Authority Over Quasi-Public Agencies
Attorney General Opinion. In a 2021 opinion (Attorney General
Opinion 2021-01), the attorney general concluded that most SCSB
statutes give the board authority over state contracting agencies only,
with only limited authority over quasi-public agencies. He noted that
although the board has authority over certain bid contests involving
quasi-public agencies, generally its authority over quasi-public agencies
“is much more limited and circumscribed relative to its authority over 2022SB-00473-R000474-BA.DOCX
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state contracting agencies.”
Exceptions. Under current law, the State Education Resource Center
(SERC) is a state contracting agency under an SCSB statute governing
procurement methods (CGS § 4e-19). Additionally, the 2021
implementer made the Connecticut Port Authority a state contracting
agency until June 30, 2026, under all SCSB authorizing statutes except
the privatization law (PA 21-2, JSS, § 309).
On-Call Contracts
An on-call contract defines a broad range of consultant services and
is generally valid for two to three years. An on-call contract is generally
not connected to a specific project; rather, DAS subsequently issues task
letters to firms with on-call contracts that identify a specific scope of
services to be performed and the fee for those services.
DAS must establish selection panels for evaluating consultant
services proposals (including those for on-call contracts) if the value of
the services exceeds $500,000. The panels must submit a list of the most
qualified firms to the DAS commissioner for his consideration.
Related Bills
sHB 5432, reported favorably by the Appropriations Committee, (1)
includes the same provisions on modifying SCSB’s budget request and
reducing allotments and (2) requires that the board have at least four
full-time employees.
sHB 5453, reported favorably by the Government Administration
and Elections Committee, requires the DAS commissioner to post, on
the department’s website, certain goods and services contracts entered
into without using competitive bidding.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 18 Nay 0 (03/28/2022)