‘An Act To Update the Maine Procurement Laws’
| HP0884 LD 1298 |
Session - 127th Maine Legislature C "A", Filing Number H-575, Sponsored by
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LR 1275 Item 2 |
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| Bill Tracking, Additional Documents | Chamber Status | ||
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Update the Maine Procurement Laws’
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §1811, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2005, c. 12, Pt. T, §8, is further amended to read:
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §1812, as amended by PL 1991, c. 780, Pt. Y, §67, is further amended to read:
§ 1812. Scope of purchasing authority
The terms "services," "goods," "commodities," "supplies," "materials" and "equipment" as used in this chapter mean any and all services, labor, time or effort furnished to the State or any department or agency of the State by a contractor or vendor and articles or things that are used by or furnished to the State or any department or agency thereof , and any and all printing, binding, publication of laws, journals and reports. Except as provided in chapters 141 to 155, any and all services, goods, commodities, supplies, materials and equipment needed by one or more departments or agencies of the State Government must be directly purchased or contracted for by the Director of the Bureau of General Services, as may be determined from time to time by rules adopted pursuant to chapters 141 to 155, which rules the Department of Administrative and Financial Services is authorized and empowered to make. It is the intent and purpose of this chapter that the Director of the Bureau of General Services purchase collectively all services, goods, commodities, supplies, materials and equipment for the State or any department or agency thereof of the State in a manner that will best secure the greatest possible economy consistent with the grade or quality of the services, goods, commodities, supplies, materials and equipment best adapted for the purposes for which they are needed. Whenever supplies and materials are available for purchase that are composed in whole or in part of recycled materials and are shown by the seller, supplier or manufacturer to be equal in quality and are competitively priced, except for paper and paper products, the Director of the Bureau of General Services shall purchase such recycled supplies and materials. The Director of the Bureau of General Services shall also review procurement procedures and bid specifications for the purchase of products and materials to ensure, to the maximum extent feasible, the purchase of products or materials that are made with recycled materials or may be recycled or reused once discarded. For the purposes of this section and section 1812-B, "recycled materials" means materials that are composed in whole or in part of elements that are reused or reclaimed.
The Trustees of the University of Maine System may authorize the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to act for them in any purchases.
The word "services," when used in this chapter, means any and all window cleaning services, elevator repair and maintenance services, laundry service, linen supply service, dry cleaning service, janitor service, floor maintenance service, rubbish and garbage disposal service, tree surgeon service, all types of office machine repair and maintenance service, exterminator service, refrigerator repair and maintenance service and oil burner repair and maintenance service when any such service is performed by an independent contractor. The Director of the Bureau of General Services may, with the approval of the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services add to or eliminate from the various types of service set forth in this paragraph such services performed by independent contractors as may be considered by the director to be in the best interests of the State.
The Director of the Bureau of General Services may enter into or participate in multistate agreements and requests for proposals and bids for goods and services when it is determined to be in the best interests of the State. The Director of the Bureau of General Services may enter into or participate in competitively awarded agreements from the United States Government, other state or local governments or other public entities if the director determines that the competitive process used is substantially similar to that of the State.
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §1825-B, sub-§2, ¶C, as amended by PL 1991, c. 780, Pt. Y, §70, is further amended to read:
Sec. 4. 5 MRSA §1825-B, sub-§2, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 785, §2, is amended to read:
Sec. 5. 5 MRSA §1825-B, sub-§2, ¶G, as amended by PL 1999, c. 105, §3, is further amended to read:
Sec. 6. 5 MRSA §1825-B, sub-§§7 and 8, as amended by PL 2015, c. 179, §2, are further amended to read:
Sec. 7. 5 MRSA §1825-D, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 785, §2, is amended to read:
summary
This amendment is the minority report and strikes and replaces the bill. It changes the title and amends Maine's procurement laws instead of, as in the bill, establishing a framework for governmental entities to enter into agreements with private entities and persons to develop or operate qualifying projects.
It expands the description of what can be purchased cooperatively by the State for other public entities. It adds "goods" and "commodities" to the list of terms under the scope of the purchasing authority of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of General Services. It replaces the term "services" with "labor, time or effort" by a contractor or vendor and removes the definition of "services." It provides that the Director of the Bureau of General Services may enter into or participate in multistate agreements when it is in the best interests of the State. The director may also enter into or participate in competitively awarded agreements from the United States Government, other state and local governments or other public entities when the competitive process is similar to the State's.
The amendment updates language in regard to specific reasons under which a waiver of competition can be granted by the bureau. The language provides consistency and updates current practices to better reflect current markets, including the addition of natural gas and electricity. It also increases from $10,000 or less to $25,000 or less the amount of expenditures under which the director may waive competitive bidding if procurement from a single source is the most economical, effective and appropriate.
The amendment expands what the bureau must take into consideration when determining the best-value bidder for any goods or services to be consistent with competitive bidding documents. It clarifies how to remedy tie bids.
The amendment provides that rules of the State Purchasing Agent that govern the procedure for reviewing competitive bids include the requirement that written records of the evaluation of bids be kept.