STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9800 IN SENATE May 30, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development AN ACT to amend the public housing law, in relation to requirements for certain contracts for materials, supplies, or services The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public housing law is amended by adding a new section 2 151-b to read as follows: 3 § 151-b. Additional requirements for contracts below a certain thresh- 4 old. 1. Contracts for materials, supplies, or services which are not 5 required by section one hundred fifty-one of this article to be made on 6 sealed bids shall be procured in a manner so as to assure the prudent 7 and economical use of public moneys in the best interests of the taxpay- 8 ers, to facilitate the acquisition of materials, supplies, and services 9 of maximum quality at the lowest possible cost under the circumstances, 10 and to guard against favoritism, improvidence, extravagance, fraud, and 11 corruption. To further such objectives, an authority shall adopt inter- 12 nal policies and procedures governing all procurements of materials, 13 supplies, and services which are not required to be made pursuant to the 14 sealed bid requirements of section one hundred fifty-one of this article 15 or of any other general or special law. 16 2. Such policies and procedures shall contain provisions which, among 17 other things: 18 a. prescribe a procedure for determining whether a procurement of 19 materials, supplies, and services is subject to a sealed bid and docu- 20 menting the basis for any determination that a sealed bid is not 21 required by law; 22 b. set forth when each such method of procurement will be utilized, 23 taking into account which method will best further the purposes of this 24 section and the cost-effectiveness of the method; 25 c. require adequate documentation of actions taken in connection with 26 each such method of procurement; and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15657-02-4
S. 9800 2 1 d. identify the respective titles responsible for purchasing. Such 2 information shall be updated biennially. 3 3. An authority in a city with a population over one million shall 4 consult with the department of investigation of the city of New York and 5 develop a procurement corruption prevention training program. 6 a. Such procurement corruption prevention training program shall be 7 interactive and include: 8 i. information concerning the federal, state, and local statues and 9 regulations related to gratuities and bribes; 10 ii. information concerning criminal liabilities related to gratuities 11 and bribes; 12 iii. examples of conduct that would constitute gratuities and bribes; 13 and 14 iv. information concerning employees' duties to report allegations of 15 bribery and corruption to the department of investigation of the city of 16 New York. 17 b. Such procurement corruption prevention training shall be provided 18 to all individuals with the respective titles identified in paragraph d 19 of subdivision two of this section on an annual basis. 20 4. An authority shall provide the individuals with the respective 21 titles identified in paragraph d of subdivision two of this section, in 22 writing in English and in the language identified by each individual as 23 the primary language of such individual, at the time of hiring and at 24 every annual procurement corruption prevention training provided pursu- 25 ant to subdivision three of this section, a compliant advisory alert 26 containing the information presented at such authority's procurement 27 corruption prevention training program and an acknowledgement form for 28 such individuals to sign stating that they have read, understood, and 29 agree to comply with the compliance advisory alert. 30 5. Every officer employee of an authority in a city with a population 31 over one million shall have an affirmative obligation to report, direct- 32 ly and without undue delay, to the department of investigation of the 33 city of New York any and all information concerning conduct which they 34 know or should reasonably know to involve corrupt or other criminal 35 activity or conflict of interest: 36 a. by another authority officer or employee, which concerns their 37 office or employment; or 38 b. by persons dealing with the authority, which concerns their deal- 39 ings with the authority. The knowing failure of any officer or employee 40 to report as required in this subdivision shall constitute cause for 41 removal from office or employment or other appropriate penalty. 42 6. An authority in a city with a population over one million utilizing 43 a pre-qualified list of bidders for contracts subject to this section 44 shall require all vendors on the pre-qualified list to attend a training 45 program developed in consultation with the department of investigation 46 of the city of New York prior to being placed on the pre-qualified list. 47 a. Such training program shall be interactive and include: 48 i. information about the authority's internal policies and procedures 49 governing all procurements of materials, supplies, and services which 50 are not required to be made pursuant to the sealed bid requirements of 51 section one hundred fifty-one of this article or of any other general or 52 special law; 53 ii. information concerning the federal, state, and local statues and 54 regulations related to gratuities and bribes; 55 iii. information concerning criminal liabilities related to gratuities 56 and bribes;
S. 9800 3 1 iv. examples of conduct that would constitute gratuities and bribes; 2 and 3 v. information regarding the vendor's responsibilities related to a 4 contract. 5 b. Upon completion of the training program in paragraph a of this 6 subdivision, vendors shall submit to the authority a signed acknowledge- 7 ment form stating: "I acknowledge and understand that offering, giving, 8 and/or accepting bribes, gratuities, and/or gifts is a criminal offence 9 under federal and New York state law". 10 7. Within ninety days of the effective date of this section, an 11 authority shall establish a schedule of reasonable costs for the fifteen 12 most common service requests, inclusive of related materials, which are 13 not required by section one hundred fifty-one of this article to be made 14 on sealed bids. Such schedule of reasonable costs shall be based on the 15 type of services and related materials. Any contract subject to this 16 subdivision where the cost exceeds the schedule of reasonable costs 17 shall include a written explanation for the additional cost. Such sched- 18 ule of reasonable costs shall be updated annually. 19 8. An authority shall display signage at developments and offices in a 20 conspicuous place accessible to employees stating the following: 21 "Offering, giving, and/or accepting bribes, gratuities, and/or gifts is 22 a criminal offence under federal and New York state law". 23 9. The quality assurance and compliance departments of an authority 24 shall conduct semiannual audits of the contracts subject to this 25 section. Such audits shall include but not be limited to the total 26 number of transactions, the average contract cost, the frequency with 27 which specific vendors perform work, recordkeeping, and compliance with 28 this section. The findings of such audits shall be posted publicly on 29 the website of the authority. 30 10. An authority in a city with a population over one million shall 31 report any irregularities related to contracts for materials, supplies, 32 or services to the department of investigation of the city of New York. 33 11. This section shall apply to any authority located in a city with a 34 population over one million. 35 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 36 ing the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, 37 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces- 38 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 39 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.