SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1257        FILED ON: 1/18/2013

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1534

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Michael F. Rush

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to allow for municipal innovation through procurement reform.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1257        FILED ON: 1/18/2013

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1534

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

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An Act to allow for municipal innovation through procurement reform.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Subsection (b) of section 1 of chapter 30B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after clause (34), the following clause:-

(35) a contract of less than $100,000 for open source deliverables, including but not limited to software, data, and designs. Within sixty days of entering into such a contract, the governmental body shall provide public notice of the contract on its website for at least two weeks. The public notice shall specify the dollar amount, contractor, and subject matter of the contract and identify the manner in which open source deliverables will be made available to the public.

SECTION 2. Chapter 41 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 17, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 17. Every officer of a city who makes or executes a contract on behalf of the city shall furnish said contract or a copy thereof to the city clerk and the city auditor within one week after its execution; and the city clerk shall keep such contract or copy on file, open to public inspection during business hours. Such contracts or copies shall be kept on file, arranged according to the subject of the contract, or in other convenient form, and an index to the subject matter of the contracts and to the names of the contractors shall be made available, and shall also be open to public inspection in some convenient form. The city clerk and the city auditor may agree to share such files and indexes. All allowances under and additions to such contracts, or copies thereof, shall be filed with the city clerk and the city auditor, together with a sworn statement of the officer making such allowances or additions that the same are correct and in accordance with the contract.  The city clerk and the city auditor may agree to share such files.

SECTION 3. Section 44E of chapter 149 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after the first paragraph of subsection (1) thereof, the following:-

In inviting bids, the awarding authority shall reserve the right to reject any or all such general bids, if it be in the public interest to do so.  In inviting sub-bids in connection with such a contract, the awarding authority shall reserve the right to reject any sub-bid on any sub-trade, if it determines that such sub-bid does not represent the sub-bid of a person competent to perform the work as specified or that less than three such sub-bids were received and that the prices are not reasonable for acceptance without further competition.

SECTION 4. Section 44J of chapter 149 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following subsection:-

(10) The provisions of this section shall not apply (1) to the extent that they prevent the approval by any contributing federal agency of any contract or specification solely for the purchase of materials by a governmental body, as defined by section 2 of chapter 30B, (2) to materials purchased under specifications of the state department of highways at prices established by the said department pursuant to advertisement and bidding in connection with work to be performed under the provisions of chapter 81 or chapter 90, (3) to any transaction between the commonwealth and any of its political subdivisions or governmental body, as defined by section 2 of chapter 30B, or between the commonwealth and any public service corporation, and (4) to any procurement or contract of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars awarded by a governmental body, as defined by section 2 of chapter 30B, in accordance with the provisions of section 5 of said chapter 30B; and (5) to any procurement or contract solely for the purchase of materials awarded by a governmental body, as defined by section 2 of chapter 30B, in accordance with section 5 of said chapter 30B.

SECTION 5. Section 20A of chapter 9 of the General Laws, as appeaing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following paragraph:-

The provisions of this section shall not apply (1) to the extent that they prevent the approval by any contributing federal agency of any contract or specification solely for the purchase of materials by a governmental body, as defined by section 2 of chapter 30B, (2) to materials purchased under specifications of the state department of highways at prices established by the said department pursuant to advertisement and bidding in connection with work to be performed under the provisions of chapter 81 or chapter 90, (3) to any transaction between the commonwealth and any of its political subdivisions or governmental body, as defined by section 2 of chapter 30B, or between the commonwealth and any public service corporation, and (4) to any procurement or contract of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars awarded by a governmental body, as defined by section 2 of chapter 30B, in accordance with the provisions of section 5 of said chapter 30B; and (5) to any procurement or contract solely for the purchase of materials awarded by a governmental body, as defined by section 2 of chapter 30B, in accordance with section 5 of said chapter 30B.