FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 624
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR HUDSON.
2468S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 34.042, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to
competitive bidding.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 34.042, RSMo, is repealed and on e new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 34.042, 2
to read as follows:3
34.042. 1. When the commissioner of administration 1
determines that the use of competitive bidding is either not 2
practicable or not advantageous to the state , supplies may 3
be procured by competitive proposals. The commissioner 4
shall state the reasons for such determination, and a report 5
containing those reasons shall be maintained with the 6
vouchers or files pertaining to such purchases. All 7
purchases in excess of ten thousand dollars to be made under 8
this section shall be based on competitive proposals. 9
2. On any purchase where the estimated expenditure 10
shall be one hundred thousand dollars or over, the 11
commissioner of administration shall: 12
(1) Advertise for proposals in at least two daily 13
newspapers of general circulation in such places as are most 14
likely to reach prospective offerors and may advertise in at 15
least two weekly minority newspapers and may provide such 16
information through an electronic medium available to the 17
general public at least five days before proposals for such 18 SB 624 2
purchases are to be opened. Other methods of advertisement, 19
however, may be adopted by the commissioner of 20
administration when such other methods are dee med more 21
advantageous for the supplies to be purchased; 22
(2) Post notice of the proposed purchase; and 23
(3) Solicit proposals by mail or other reasonable 24
method generally available to the public from prospective 25
offerors. 26
All proposals for suc h supplies shall be mailed or delivered 27
to the office of the commissioner of administration so as to 28
reach such office before the time set for opening 29
proposals. Proposals shall be opened in a manner to avoid 30
disclosure of contents to competing offero rs during the 31
process of negotiation. 32
3. The contract shall be let to the lowest and best 33
offeror as determined by the evaluation criteria established 34
in the request for proposal and any subsequent negotiations 35
conducted pursuant to this subsecti on. In determining the 36
lowest and best offeror, as provided in the request for 37
proposals and under rules promulgated by the commissioner of 38
administration, negotiations may be conducted with 39
responsible offerors who submit proposals selected by the 40
commissioner of administration on the basis of reasonable 41
criteria for the purpose of clarifying and assuring full 42
understanding of and responsiveness to the solicitation 43
requirements. Those offerors shall be accorded fair and 44
equal treatment with resp ect to any opportunity for 45
negotiation and subsequent revision of proposals; however, a 46
request for proposal may set forth the manner for 47
determining which offerors are eligible for negotiation, 48
including, but not limited to, the use of shortlisting. 49 SB 624 3
Revisions may be permitted after submission and before award 50
for the purpose of obtaining best and final offers. In 51
conducting negotiations there shall be no disclosure of any 52
information derived from proposals submitted by competing 53
offerors. The commissioner of administration shall have the 54
right to reject any or all proposals and advertise for new 55
proposals or purchase the required supplies on the open 56
market if they can be so purchased at a better price. 57
4. The commissioner shall make av ailable, upon 58
request, to any members of the general assembly, information 59
pertaining to competitive proposals, including the names of 60
bidders and the amount of each bidder's offering for each 61
contract. 62
5. (1) If identified in the solicitation, the 63
commissioner may award a contract to the lowest and best 64
responsive vendor as determined by the evaluation criteria 65
set out in the solicitation, while reserving certain 66
contract provisions for negotiation after the notice of 67
award. The reserved contract provisions for post -award 68
negotiation shall not be provisions that were part of the 69
evaluation criteria and scoring or provisions that impacted 70
such criteria or scoring. The time frame for such post - 71
award negotiations shall be set out in the s olicitation 72
itself, and if such negotiations fail, the commissioner may 73
cancel the award and award the contract to the next lowest 74
and best vendor. If satisfied with the lowest and best 75
responsive vendor's proposal, the commissioner may waive 76
post-award negotiations. 77
(2) For solicitations that provide for contract awards 78
to be made to multiple vendors, including qualified vendor 79
list solicitations, post -award negotiations may be done 80
separately with all awarded vendors if specified in the 81 SB 624 4
solicitation and if needed. For any provision agreed to in 82
such post-award negotiations with a vendor, any other vendor 83
awarded a contract out of that solicitation may request the 84
same negotiated provision for their contract, and the 85
commissioner shall add it through a written contract 86
amendment. 87