Maryland 2023 2023 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB368 Introduced / Bill

Filed 01/26/2023

                     
 
EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW. 
        [Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law. 
          *hb0368*  
  
HOUSE BILL 368 
P4, P2   	3lr0854 
    	CF SB 9 
By: Delegate Cullison 
Introduced and read first time: January 26, 2023 
Assigned to: Appropriations 
 
A BILL ENTITLED 
 
AN ACT concerning 1 
 
State Personnel – Executive Branch Service Contracts – Policy, Certification, 2 
and Notification  3 
 
FOR the purpose of altering State policy regarding the preference to use State employees 4 
to perform State functions in State–operated facilities by repealing the requirement 5 
that State employees perform the functions in State–operated facilities; authorizing 6 
the Board of Public Works to approve certain service contracts if the Board receives 7 
a certain certification; requiring the Department of Budget and Management to send 8 
a copy of a certain certification to a certain exclusive representative; and generally 9 
relating to service contracts in the Executive Branch. 10 
 
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 11 
 Article – State Finance and Procurement 12 
Section 11–101(d), (u), and (y) and 13–218.1 13 
 Annotated Code of Maryland 14 
 (2021 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 15 
 
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 16 
 Article – State Personnel and Pensions 17 
Section 13–401, 13–402, and 13–403 18 
 Annotated Code of Maryland 19 
 (2015 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 20 
 
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 21 
 Article – State Personnel and Pensions 22 
Section 13–404 23 
 Annotated Code of Maryland 24 
 (2015 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 25 
 
 SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 26 
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 27  2 	HOUSE BILL 368  
 
 
 
Article – State Finance and Procurement 1 
 
11–101. 2 
 
 (d) “Board” means the Board of Public Works. 3 
 
 (u) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, “services” 4 
means: 5 
 
 (i) the labor, time, or effort of a contractor; and 6 
 
 (ii) any product or report necessarily associated with the rendering 7 
of a service. 8 
 
 (2) “Services” includes services provided by attorneys, accountants, 9 
physicians, consultants, and other professionals who are independent contractors. 10 
 
 (3) “Services” does not include: 11 
 
 (i) construction related services; 12 
 
 (ii) architectural services; 13 
 
 (iii) engineering services; or 14 
 
 (iv) energy performance contract services. 15 
 
 (y) (1) “Unit” means an officer or other entity that is in the Executive Branch 16 
of the State government and is authorized by law to enter into a procurement contract. 17 
 
 (2) “Unit” does not include: 18 
 
 (i) a bistate, multistate, bicounty, or multicounty governmental 19 
agency; or 20 
 
 (ii) a special tax district, sanitary district, drainage district, soil 21 
conservation district, water supply district, or other political subdivision of the State. 22 
 
13–218.1. 23 
 
 (a) In this section, “service contract” has the meaning stated in § 13–401 of the 24 
State Personnel and Pensions Article. 25 
 
 (b) (1) At least 60 days before the issuance of a solicitation for a service 26 
contract that is not exempt under § 13–403(c) or § 13–404(b) of the State Personnel and 27   	HOUSE BILL 368 	3 
 
 
Pensions Article, the unit shall provide the exclusive representative of the employees who 1 
may be affected by the service contract with: 2 
 
 (i) written notice of: 3 
 
 1. work that is being proposed for contracting; and 4 
 
 2. contracting procedures, requirements, timetables, and 5 
employee rights as provided in Title 13, Subtitle 4 of the State Personnel and Pensions 6 
Article; and 7 
 
 (ii) a reasonable opportunity to meet and discuss alternatives to the 8 
proposed service contract. 9 
 
 (2) (i) 1. Except as provided in subsubparagraph 2 of this 10 
subparagraph, this paragraph applies to a solicitation for a service contract for janitorial 11 
services. 12 
 
 2. This paragraph does not apply to a service contract for 13 
janitorial services under Title 14, Subtitle 1 of this article. 14 
 
 (ii) In consultation with the Department of General Services, the 15 
Board shall adopt regulations concerning a solicitation for a service contract for janitorial 16 
services to require that a bidder or offeror delineate its costs by category, including: 17 
 
 1. labor; 18 
 
 2. cleaning supplies; and 19 
 
 3. projected man–hours to satisfactorily complete the 20 
service. 21 
 
 (c) A violation of this section does not constitute grounds to challenge or appeal 22 
an award of a procurement or the process through which the procurement was conducted. 23 
 
Article – State Personnel and Pensions 24 
 
13–401. 25 
 
 (a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. 26 
 
 (b) “Service contract” means a procurement contract for services that: 27 
 
 (1) will be provided to a unit in the Executive Branch of State government; 28 
AND 29 
 
 (2) [will be performed within a State–operated facility; and 30  4 	HOUSE BILL 368  
 
 
 
 (3)] in the estimation of the procurement officer, will exceed an annual cost 1 
of $100,000. 2 
 
 (c) “Services” has the meaning stated in § 11–101 of the State Finance and 3 
Procurement Article. 4 
 
 (d) “Unit” has the meaning stated in § 11–101 of the State Finance and 5 
Procurement Article. 6 
 
13–402. 7 
 
 The policy of this State is to use State employees to perform all State functions [in 8 
State–operated facilities] in preference to contracting with the private sector to perform 9 
those functions. 10 
 
13–403. 11 
 
 (a) A service contract may be entered into only as approved by the Board of Public 12 
Works in accordance with this subtitle. 13 
 
 (b) (1) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the Board of Public 14 
Works may approve a service contract for a unit only if the Board receives a certification 15 
from the Department that: 16 
 
 [(1)] (I) the service contract is exempt under § 13–404(b) of this subtitle; 17 
or 18 
 
 [(2)] (II) the unit has complied with the requirements of: 19 
 
 1. § 13–404(c) of this subtitle; AND 20 
 
 2. § 13–218.1(B) OF THE STATE FINANCE AND 21 
PROCUREMENT ARTICLE. 22 
 
 (2) IF A SERVICE CONTRACT IS CERTIFIED UNDER § 13–404(C) OF 23 
THIS SUBTITLE, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL SEND A COPY OF THE CERTIFICATION 24 
REQUIRED UNDER PARAG RAPH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION TO THE EXCLUS IVE 25 
REPRESENTATIVE OF TH E AFFECTED EMPLOYEES . 26 
 
 (c) If the General Assembly authorizes or requires that certain services be 27 
performed by an independent contractor, the Board of Public Works may approve a service 28 
contract for those services without the certification required by subsection (b) of this 29 
section. 30 
 
13–404. 31   	HOUSE BILL 368 	5 
 
 
 
 (a) The Department may certify a service contract to the Board of Public Works 1 
as provided in this section. 2 
 
 (b) The Department may certify a service contract as being exempt from the 3 
preference stated in § 13–402 of this subtitle if: 4 
 
 (1) State employees are not available to perform the services; 5 
 
 (2) a conflict of interest would result if a State employee were to perform 6 
the services; 7 
 
 (3) the nature of the services meets the standards set by the Department 8 
for emergency appointments; 9 
 
 (4) the services are incidental to the purchase or lease of personal property 10 
or real property, such as a service agreement that is part of the purchase or rental of 11 
computers or office equipment; or 12 
 
 (5) a clear need exists to obtain an unbiased finding or opinion, such as an 13 
expert witness in litigation. 14 
 
 (c) The Department may certify a service contract that is not exempt under 15 
subsection (b) of this section only if: 16 
 
 (1) the unit that seeks to enter into the service contract has complied with 17 
§ 13–405 of this subtitle; and 18 
 
 (2) the Department finds that: 19 
 
 (i) the potential economic advantage of entering into the service 20 
contract is not outweighed by the preference stated in § 13–402 of this subtitle; 21 
 
 (ii) the service contract does not adversely affect the affirmative 22 
action efforts of this State; 23 
 
 (iii) the service contract includes adequate control mechanisms to 24 
ensure that the services will be performed in accordance with the service contract; and 25 
 
 (iv) the service contract complies with all of the requirements of 26 
Division II of the State Finance and Procurement Article. 27 
 
 SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 28 
1, 2023. 29