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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6867
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 5373
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING COMPETITIVE NEGOTIATION FOR CERTAIN
STATE CONTRACTS AND OTHER PROCUREMENT PRACTICES.
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 Section 4-212 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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 July 1, 2023): 2
As used in [sections 4-212] this section and sections 4-213 to 4-219, 3
inclusive, as amended by this act: 4
(1) "Competitive negotiation" means (A) a procedure for contracting 5
for services in which [(A)] proposals are solicited from qualified 6
persons, firms or corporations by a request for proposals, regardless of 7
the number of responses, and [(B)] changes may be negotiated in 8
proposals and prices after being submitted, or (B) any other open and 9
fair process in which all qualified persons, firms or corporations have 10
an equal opportunity to be selected to provide services. 11
(2) "Personal service contractor" means any person, firm or 12
corporation not employed by the state, who is hired by a state agency 13 Raised Bill No. 6867
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for a fee to provide services to the agency. The term "personal service 14
contractor" [shall] does not include (A) a person, firm or corporation 15
providing "contractual services", as defined in section 4a-50, as 16
amended by this act, to the state, (B) a "consultant", as defined in section 17
4b-55, (C) a "consultant", as defined in section 13b-20b, (D) an agency of 18
the federal government, of the state or of a political subdivision of the 19
state, [or] (E) a person, firm or corporation providing consultant services 20
for information and telecommunications systems authorized under 21
subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of section 4d-2, or (F) a person, firm or 22
corporation providing transportation services under a contract entered 23
into under section 13b-34. 24
(3) "Personal service agreement" means a written agreement defining 25
the services or end product to be delivered by a personal service 26
contractor to a state agency, excluding any agreement with a personal 27
service contractor that the state accounting manual does not require to 28
be submitted to the Comptroller. 29
(4) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 30
Management. 31
(5) "State agency" means a department, board, council, commission, 32
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 July 1, 2023): 35
Each personal service agreement executed on or after July 1, [1994] 36
2023, and having a cost of not more than [twenty] fifty thousand dollars 37
and a term of not more than one year shall be based, when possible, on 38
competitive negotiation or competitive quotations. 39
Sec. 3. Section 4-215 of the general statutes is repealed and the 40
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 41
(a) Each personal service agreement executed on or after July 1, [1994] 42
2023, and having a cost of more than [twenty thousand dollars but not 43 Raised Bill No. 6867
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more than] fifty thousand dollars [and a term of not more than one year] 44
shall be based on competitive negotiation or competitive quotations, 45
unless the state agency purchasing the personal services determines that 46
a sole source purchase is required and applies to the secretary for a 47
waiver from such requirement and the secretary grants the waiver. Not 48
later than March 1, 1994, the secretary shall adopt guidelines for 49
determining the types of services that may qualify for such waivers. The 50
qualifying services shall include, but not be limited to, (1) services for 51
which the cost to the state of a competitive selection procedure would 52
outweigh the benefits of such procedure, as documented by the state 53
agency, (2) proprietary services, (3) services to be provided by a 54
contractor mandated by the general statutes or a public or special act, 55
and (4) emergency services, including services needed for the protection 56
of life or health. The secretary shall post any approvals of requests for a 57
waiver received under this section on the State Contracting Portal. Not 58
later than January 15, 2020, and annually thereafter, the secretary shall 59
submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to 60
the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 61
cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state 62
agencies and government administration and the State Contracting 63
Standards Board listing any such waiver requests received during the 64
prior year and the justification for the grant or denial of such request. 65
(b) [The] Not less than seven days prior to submitting any application 66
to the secretary for a sole source purchase of audit services, the agency 67
shall [immediately] notify the Auditors of Public Accounts [of any 68
application that the secretary receives for approval of a sole source 69
purchase of audit services] and give the auditors the opportunity to 70
review the application to advise the [secretary as to] agency during such 71
seven-day period whether such services are necessary and, if so, 72
whether such services could be provided by said auditors. 73
Sec. 4. Section 4-216 of the general statutes is repealed and the 74
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 75
(a) No state agency may execute a personal service agreement having 76 Raised Bill No. 6867
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a cost of more than fifty thousand dollars [or a term of more than one 77
year,] without the approval of the secretary. A state agency may apply 78
for an approval by submitting the following information to the 79
secretary: (1) A description of the services to be purchased and the need 80
for such services; (2) an estimate of the cost of the services and the term 81
of the agreement; (3) whether the services are to be on-going; (4) 82
whether the state agency has contracted out for such services during the 83
preceding two years and, if so, the name of the contractor, term of the 84
agreement with such contractor and the amount paid to the contractor; 85
(5) whether any other state agency has the resources to provide the 86
services; (6) whether the agency intends to purchase the services by 87
competitive negotiation and, if not, why; and (7) whether it is possible 88
to purchase the services on a cooperative basis with other state agencies. 89
The secretary shall approve or disapprove an application [within] not 90
later than fifteen business days after receiving it and any necessary 91
supporting information. [, provided if the secretary does not act within 92
such fifteen-day period the application shall be deemed to have been 93
approved. The secretary] In the case of a proposed personal services 94
agreement for audit services, not less than seven days prior to 95
submitting any such application to the secretary, the agency shall 96
[immediately] notify the Auditors of Public Accounts [of any 97
application which the secretary receives for approval] of a proposed 98
personal services agreement for audit services and give said auditors an 99
opportunity to review the application [during such fifteen-day period] 100
and advise the [secretary as to] agency during such seven-day period 101
whether such audit services are necessary and, if so, could be provided 102
by said auditors. 103
(b) Each personal service agreement having a cost of more than fifty 104
thousand dollars [or a term of more than one year] shall be based on 105
competitive negotiation or competitive quotations, unless the state 106
agency purchasing the personal services applies to the secretary for a 107
waiver from such requirement and the secretary grants the waiver in 108
accordance with the guidelines adopted under section 4-215, as 109
amended by this act. 110 Raised Bill No. 6867
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(c) The secretary shall establish an incentive program for nonprofit 111
providers of human services that shall (1) allow providers who 112
otherwise meet contractual requirements to retain any savings realized 113
by the providers from the contracted cost for services, and (2) provide 114
that future contracted amounts from the state for the same types of 115
services are not reduced solely to reflect savings achieved in previous 116
contracts by such providers. For purposes of this subsection, "nonprofit 117
providers of human services" includes, but is not limited to, nonprofit 118
providers of services to persons with intellectual, physical or mental 119
disabilities or autism spectrum disorder. Any nonprofit provider of 120
human services allowed to retain savings under the incentive program 121
shall submit a report to the secretary on how excess funds were 122
reinvested to strengthen quality, invest in deferred maintenance and 123
make asset improvements. 124
Sec. 5. Section 4-217 of the general statutes is repealed and the 125
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 126
(a) [Not later than March 1, 1994, the] The Secretary of the Office of 127
Policy and Management shall establish standards for state agencies to 128
follow in entering into personal service agreements. The standards shall 129
include, but not be limited to, provisions for: (1) Evaluating the need to 130
use a personal service agreement, (2) developing a request for proposals 131
or any other form of competitive negotiation, (3) advertising for 132
personal service contractors, (4) evaluating submitted proposals, (5) 133
selecting a personal service contractor, including compliance with 134
section 4a-60g, (6) systematically monitoring and evaluating personal 135
service contractor performance, (7) documenting the entire process for 136
selecting and managing personal service contractors and (8) carrying 137
out any other aspect of such process. 138
(b) Not later than May 1, 1994, each state agency shall: (1) Establish 139
written procedures for implementing the standards established by the 140
secretary under subsection (a) of this section, and (2) submit such 141
procedures to the secretary for his approval. If the secretary disapproves 142
an agency's procedures he shall return the procedures to the agency 143 Raised Bill No. 6867
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with recommendations for revisions. On and after July 1, 1994, no state 144
agency may execute a personal service agreement unless the secretary 145
has approved procedures established by the agency under this section. 146
(c) A request for proposals issued under section 4-214, as amended 147
by this act, 4-215, as amended by this act, or 4-216, as amended by this 148
act, shall include, but not be limited to, an outline of the work to be 149
performed, the required minimum qualifications for the personal 150
service contractor, criteria for review of proposals by the state agency, 151
the format for proposals and the deadline for submitting proposals. 152
Each state agency which prepares a request for proposals shall establish 153
a screening committee to evaluate the proposals submitted in response 154
to the request for proposals. The screening committee shall rank all 155
proposals in accordance with the criteria set forth in the request for 156
proposals and shall submit the names of the top three proposers to the 157
executive head of the agency, who shall select the personal service 158
contractor from among such names. 159
Sec. 6. Section 4-219 of the general statutes is repealed and the 160
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 161
No state agency may, without the approval of the secretary, execute 162
(1) an amendment to a personal service agreement, which agreement 163
has an original cost of more than fifty thousand dollars, or (2) an 164
amendment to any other personal service agreement, which 165
amendment (A) has a cost of one hundred per cent or more of the cost 166
of the original agreement, (B) increases the cost of the agreement to more 167
than fifty thousand dollars, [(C) extends the terms of the agreement 168
beyond a one-year period] or [(D)] (C) is the second or subsequent 169
amendment to the agreement. The secretary shall approve or 170
disapprove a proposed amendment [within] not later than fifteen 171
business days after receiving it and any necessary supporting 172
information, provided if the secretary does not act within such fifteen-173
day period the application shall be deemed to have been approved. 174
Sec. 7. Section 4a-50 of the general statutes is repealed and the 175 Raised Bill No. 6867
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following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 176
When used in this chapter, unless the context indicates a different 177
meaning: 178
(1) "State agency" includes any officer, department, board, council, 179
commission, institution or other agency of the Executive Department of 180
the state government; 181
(2) "Supplies", "materials" and "equipment" mean any [and all] 182
articles of personal property furnished to or used by any state agency, 183
including all printing, binding, publication of laws, stationery, forms, 184
and reports; 185
(3) "Contractual services" means any [and all] laundry and cleaning 186
service, pest control service, janitorial service, security service, the rental 187
and repair, or maintenance, of equipment, machinery and other state-188
owned personal property, advertising [and photostating, 189
mimeographing,] and other service arrangements where the services are 190
provided by persons other than state employees; 191
(4) "Competitive bidding" means the submission of prices by persons, 192
firms or corporations competing for a contract to provide supplies, 193
materials, equipment or contractual services, under a procedure in 194
which the contracting authority does not negotiate prices; 195
(5) "Competitive negotiation" means (A) a procedure for contracting 196
for supplies, materials, equipment or contractual services, in which [(A)] 197
proposals are solicited from qualified suppliers by a request for 198
proposals, regardless of the number of responses and [(B)] changes may 199
be negotiated in proposals and prices after being submitted, or (B) any 200
other open and fair process in which all qualified suppliers have an 201
equal opportunity to be selected to provide supplies, materials, 202
equipment or contractual services; 203
(6) "Bidder" means a person, firm or corporation submitting a 204
competitive bid in response to a solicitation or any other form of 205 Raised Bill No. 6867
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competitive negotiation; and 206
(7) "Proposer" means a person, firm or corporation submitting a 207
proposal in response to a request for proposals or any other form of 208
competitive negotiation. 209
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2023 4-212
Sec. 2 July 1, 2023 4-214
Sec. 3 July 1, 2023 4-215
Sec. 4 July 1, 2023 4-216
Sec. 5 July 1, 2023 4-217
Sec. 6 July 1, 2023 4-219
Sec. 7 July 1, 2023 4a-50
Statement of Purpose:
To redefine competitive negotiation and permit its use for the purchase
or acquisition of services by a state agency and increase the thresholds
for which personal service agreements are subject to competitive
negotiation or subject to approval of the Office of Policy and
Management.
[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.]