Florida Senate - 2022 SB 1520 By Senator Gruters 23-01607-22 20221520__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to acquisition of professional 3 services; amending s. 287.055, F.S.; removing language 4 requiring that an agency, when determining whether a 5 firm is qualified to perform certain services, operate 6 with the object of effecting an equitable distribution 7 of contracts among qualified firms; providing an 8 effective date. 9 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11 12 Section 1.Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 13 287.055, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 14 287.055Acquisition of professional architectural, 15 engineering, landscape architectural, or surveying and mapping 16 services; definitions; procedures; contingent fees prohibited; 17 penalties. 18 (4)COMPETITIVE SELECTION. 19 (b)The agency shall select in order of preference no fewer 20 than three firms deemed to be the most highly qualified to 21 perform the required services. In determining whether a firm is 22 qualified, the agency shall consider such factors as the ability 23 of professional personnel; whether a firm is a certified 24 minority business enterprise; past performance; willingness to 25 meet time and budget requirements; location; recent, current, 26 and projected workloads of the firms; and the volume of work 27 previously awarded to each firm by the agency, with the object 28 of effecting an equitable distribution of contracts among 29 qualified firms, provided such distribution does not violate the 30 principle of selection of the most highly qualified firms. The 31 agency may request, accept, and consider proposals for the 32 compensation to be paid under the contract only during 33 competitive negotiations under subsection (5). 34 Section 2.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.