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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 475
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 3663
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING OVERSIGHT OF STATE AGENCY
PROCUREMENT OF RECYCLABLE PRODUCTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 4a-59 of the 2022 supplement to 1
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 3
(c) All open market orders or contracts shall be awarded to (1) the 4
lowest responsible qualified bidder, the qualities of the articles to be 5
supplied, their conformity with the specifications, their suitability to the 6
requirements of the state government and the delivery terms being 7
taken into consideration and, at the discretion of the Commissioner of 8
Administrative Services, life-cycle costs and trade-in or resale value of 9
the articles may be considered where it appears to be in the best interest 10
of the state, (2) the highest scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid, in 11
accordance with the criteria set forth in the bid solicitation for the 12
contract, or (3) the proposer whose proposal is deemed by the awarding 13
authority to be the most advantageous to the state, in accordance with 14 Raised Bill No. 475
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the criteria set forth in the request for proposals, including price and 15
evaluation factors. Notwithstanding any provision of the general 16
statutes, [to the contrary,] each state agency awarding a contract 17
through competitive negotiation shall include price as an explicit factor 18
in the criteria in the request for proposals and for the contract award. In 19
considering past performance of a bidder for the purpose of 20
determining the "lowest responsible qualified bidder" or the "highest 21
scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid", the commissioner shall 22
evaluate the skill, ability and integrity of the bidder in terms of the 23
bidder's fulfillment of past contract obligations and the bidder's 24
experience or lack of experience in delivering supplies, materials, 25
equipment or contractual services of the size or amount for which bids 26
have been solicited. In determining the lowest responsible qualified 27
bidder for the purposes of this section for contracts awarded on or after 28
October 1, 2022, the commissioner [may] shall give a price preference of 29
up to ten per cent for [(A)] the purchase of goods made with recycled 30
materials or the purchase of recyclable or remanufactured products. [if 31
the commissioner determines that such preference would promote 32
recycling or remanufacturing.] As used in this subsection, "recyclable" 33
means able to be collected, separated or otherwise recovered from the 34
solid waste stream for reuse, or for use in the manufacture or assembly 35
of another package or product, by means of a recycling program which 36
is reasonably available to at least seventy-five per cent of the state's 37
population, "remanufactured" means restored to its original function 38
and thereby diverted from the solid waste stream by retaining the bulk 39
of components that have been used at least once and by replacing 40
consumable components and "remanufacturing" means any process by 41
which a product is remanufactured. [; (B)] In determining the lowest 42
responsible qualified bidder for the purposes of this section, the 43
commissioner may give a price preference of up to ten per cent for (A) 44
the purchase of motor vehicles powered by a clean alternative fuel; [(C)] 45
(B) the purchase of motor vehicles powered by fuel other than a clean 46
alternative fuel and conversion equipment to convert such motor 47
vehicles allowing the vehicles to be powered by either the exclusive use 48
of clean alternative fuel or dual use of a clean alternative fuel and a fuel 49 Raised Bill No. 475
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other than a clean alternative fuel. As used in this subsection, "clean 50
alternative fuel" means natural gas, electricity, hydrogen or propane 51
when used as a motor vehicle fuel; or [(D)] (C) the purchase of goods or 52
services from a micro business, except that, in the case of a veteran-53
owned micro business, the commissioner may give a price preference of 54
up to fifteen per cent. As used in this subsection, "micro business" means 55
a business with gross revenues not exceeding three million dollars in the 56
most recently completed fiscal year, "veteran-owned micro business" 57
means a micro business of which at least fifty-one per cent of the 58
ownership is held by one or more veterans and "veteran" has the same 59
meaning as provided in section 27-103. All other factors being equal, 60
preference shall be given to supplies, materials and equipment 61
produced, assembled or manufactured in the state and services 62
originating and provided in the state. Except with regard to contracts 63
that may be paid for with United States Department of Transportation 64
funds, if any such bidder refuses to accept, within ten days, a contract 65
awarded to such bidder, such contract may be awarded to the next 66
lowest responsible qualified bidder or the next highest scoring bidder in 67
a multiple criteria bid, whichever is applicable, and so on until such 68
contract is awarded and accepted. Except with regard to contracts that 69
may be paid for with United States Department of Transportation funds, 70
if any such proposer refuses to accept, within ten days, a contract 71
awarded to such proposer, such contract shall be awarded to the next 72
most advantageous proposer, and so on until the contract is awarded 73
and accepted. There shall be a written evaluation made of each bid. This 74
evaluation shall identify the vendors and their respective costs and 75
prices, document the reason why any vendor is deemed to be 76
nonresponsive and recommend a vendor for award. A contract valued 77
at one million dollars or more shall be awarded to a bidder other than 78
the lowest responsible qualified bidder or the highest scoring bidder in 79
a multiple criteria bid, whichever is applicable, only with written 80
approval signed by the Commissioner of Administrative Services and 81
by the Comptroller. The commissioner shall post on the department's 82
Internet web site all awards made pursuant to the provisions of this 83
section. 84 Raised Bill No. 475
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Sec. 2. Section 4a-67a of the general statutes is repealed and the 85
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 86
(a) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall, whenever 87
practicable, make efforts to increase state procurement of goods that 88
contain recycled materials and products that are recyclable or 89
remanufactured, as defined in subsection (c) of section 4a-59, as 90
amended by this act. Such efforts [may] shall include: (1) Requiring 91
replies to state agency bid specifications to include a statement of 92
postconsumer and secondary waste content; (2) establishing minimum 93
goals for state purchase of white bond and other paper with specified 94
postconsumer and secondary waste content and a schedule for the 95
accomplishment of such goals; (3) requiring bids to be accompanied by 96
statements assessing the ability of the materials to be recycled or 97
products to be recycled or remanufactured and assessing the extent to 98
which there are established recycling programs which would facilitate 99
recycling or remanufacturing; (4) authorizing the Department of 100
Administrative Services to substitute similar but different paper 101
products to meet agency orders if the substitute has a higher 102
postconsumer waste content; (5) requiring the Department of 103
Administrative Services to revise a specification to eliminate 104
requirements which favor virgin over recycled materials unless there is 105
a compelling reason for the specification; (6) requiring the commissioner 106
to investigate and report to the Municipal Solid Waste Recycling 107
Advisory Council opportunities for purchase of materials containing 108
postconsumer waste; and (7) requiring the state to utilize two-sided 109
copies, whenever possible, to reduce paper waste. 110
(b) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall post on the 111
department's Internet web site information regarding the department's 112
efforts to increase state procurement of goods that contain recycled 113
materials and products that are recyclable or remanufactured. 114
(c) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall revise the 115
specifications for products and materials purchased by the state for 116
which the United States Environmental Protection Agency has 117 Raised Bill No. 475
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guidelines for minimum recycled content to incorporate such minimum 118
guidelines. Such specifications shall favor recycled, recyclable or 119
remanufactured products and materials where such products or 120
materials are available. 121
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022 4a-59(c)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2022 4a-67a
Statement of Purpose:
To require (1) a price preference of up to ten per cent for recyclable or
remanufactured products procured by state agencies, and (2) state
agencies to increase procurement of recycled and recyclable products.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]