| 1 | 1 | | Phil Mendelson |
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| 2 | 2 | | Chairman |
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| 3 | 3 | | COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA |
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| 4 | 4 | | 1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, |
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| 5 | 5 | | N.W |
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| 6 | 6 | | WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004 |
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| 7 | 7 | | January 24, 2023 |
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| 8 | 8 | | Office: (202) 724-8032 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Fax: (202) 724-8085 |
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| 10 | 10 | | STATEMENT UPON INTRODUCTION |
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| 11 | 11 | | CONTRACTOR PAYMENTCONTROL AMENDMENT ACT OF 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | Today I am introducing the Contractor Payment Control Amendment Act of2023 to make |
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| 13 | 13 | | clear |
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| 14 | 14 | | in the law that the Chief Financial Officer, and others, cannot approve payments for goods |
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| 15 | 15 | | or services under contracts that have not been approved by the Council. Longstanding law in the |
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| 16 | 16 | | District requires that all contracts |
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| 17 | 17 | | exceeding $1 million for goods or services must be submitted |
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| 18 | 18 | | for approval by the Council. |
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| 19 | 19 | | The genesis for the Contractor Payment Control Amendment Act o/'2023 are two food |
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| 20 | 20 | | service contracts for the DC Public Schools that were only recently submitted to the Council. |
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| 21 | 21 | | They were both executed as letter contracts |
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| 22 | 22 | | in June but were not submitted to the Council for six |
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| 23 | 23 | | months. |
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| 24 | 24 | | In fact, they were submitted so late in Council Period 24 that they had to be |
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| 25 | 25 | | reintroduced last week. |
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| 26 | 26 | | Even though neither contract had been submitted to the Council for approval, |
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| 27 | 27 | | DCPS has |
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| 28 | 28 | | been paying the vendors -a total |
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| 29 | 29 | | of $6.265 million as of December l 0 |
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| 30 | 30 | | th (the contracts were |
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| 31 | 31 | | submitted after then). |
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| 32 | 32 | | The |
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| 33 | 33 | | DCPS food service contracts have been controversial in the past. Indeed, parents |
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| 34 | 34 | | complain to the Council about the quality |
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| 35 | 35 | | of meals in DC Public Schools. But when the |
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| 36 | 36 | | contracts are withheld from the Council until halfway through the school year, parents and |
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| 37 | 37 | | policymakers are denied meaningful opportunity to |
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| 38 | 38 | | comment or seek improvement. |
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| 39 | 39 | | Current law states that no agency director, agency fiscal officer, or |
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| 40 | 40 | | other employee may |
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| 41 | 41 | | approve disbursements without appropriate authorization. |
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| 42 | 42 | | That would include Council approval |
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| 43 | 43 | | of the contracts. But presumably the DCPS Chancellor, the DCPS fiscal officer, and the city's |
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| 44 | 44 | | Chief financial Officer don't agree, so the Contractor Payment Control Amendment Act of 2023 |
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| 45 | 45 | | will clarify that the role of the Council must be respected. |
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| 46 | 46 | | The Contractor Payment Control Amendment Ac/ c~/'2023 should make it harder for |
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| 47 | 47 | | Executive agencies to disregard the Council and disrespect parents. 1 |
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| 48 | 48 | | |
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| 49 | 49 | | ______________________________ 1 |
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| 50 | 50 | | Chairman Phil Mendelson 2 |
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| 51 | 51 | | 3 |
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| 52 | 52 | | 4 |
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| 53 | 53 | | 5 |
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| 54 | 54 | | A BILL 6 |
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| 55 | 55 | | 7 |
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| 56 | 56 | | 8 |
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| 57 | 57 | | _________ 9 |
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| 58 | 58 | | 10 |
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| 59 | 59 | | 11 |
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| 60 | 60 | | IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 12 |
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| 61 | 61 | | 13 |
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| 62 | 62 | | __________________ 14 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 15 |
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| 64 | 64 | | 16 |
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| 65 | 65 | | To amend section 47-355.02 of the District of Columbia Official Code to prohibit payments in 17 |
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| 66 | 66 | | excess of $1 million to vendors under a contract that has not yet been approved by the 18 |
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| 67 | 67 | | Council. 19 |
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| 68 | 68 | | 20 |
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| 69 | 69 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF TH E DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 21 |
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| 70 | 70 | | act may be cited as the “Contractor Payment Control Amendment Act of 2023”. 22 |
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| 71 | 71 | | Sec. 2. Section 47-355.02 of the District of Columbia Official Code is amended by 23 |
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| 72 | 72 | | adding a new paragraph (3A) to read as follows: 24 |
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| 73 | 73 | | “(3A) Approve any disbursement of funds pursuant to a contract that exceed an 25 |
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| 74 | 74 | | aggregate amount of $1 million, unless such contract has been approved by the Council pursuant 26 |
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| 75 | 75 | | to section 451 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 27 |
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| 76 | 76 | | Stat. 803; D.C. Official Code § 1-204.51);” 28 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 29 |
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| 78 | 78 | | The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Budget Director as the fiscal impact 30 |
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| 79 | 79 | | statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved 31 |
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| 80 | 80 | | October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 32 |
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| 81 | 81 | | Sec. 4. Effective date. 33 |
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| 82 | 82 | | This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 34 2 |
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| 83 | 83 | | |
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| 84 | 84 | | Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as 35 |
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| 85 | 85 | | provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 36 |
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| 86 | 86 | | 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code §1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of 37 |
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| 87 | 87 | | Columbia Register. 38 |
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