HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1648        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3518

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Daniel M. Donahue

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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 relative to local procurement.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1648        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3518

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act relative to local procurement.

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.  Section 5 of chapter 30B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the word “and”, in line 11, and by inserting, in line 12, after the word “procurement” the following:- ; and (4) for cleaning, maintenance or security guard services, the invitation shall also include: (i) a statement of required hours (ii) a worksheet requiring a breakdown of the cost components of the hourly proposed rate as developed by the procurement officer; and (iii) a provision for annual adjustments to the contract price to reflect any increases to wage and benefits requirements that may be determined by the governmental body.

SECTION 2. Said section 5 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting, in line 72, after the word “purpose” the following words:- and shall include but not be limited to solicitation specific relevant experience requirements.

SECTION 3. Said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after section 10 the following section:-

Section 10A. (a) A governmental body shall establish a process to certify, on a solicitation-by-solicitation basis, the responsibility of prospective contractors. The process shall ensure that the prospective contractor:

(1) has adequate financial resources to perform the contract or the ability to obtain those resources;

(2) is able to comply with the required or proposed delivery or performance schedule, based upon the bidder's or offeror's existing commercial and government contract commitments;

(3) has a satisfactory performance record;

(4) has a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics;

(5) has a satisfactory record of compliance with the law, including labor and civil rights laws and rules;

(6) has, or has the ability to obtain, the necessary organization, experience, accounting, operational control, and technical skills;

(7) has, or has the ability to obtain, the necessary production, construction, technical equipment, and facilities;

(8) has not exhibited a pattern of overcharging the commonwealth or any other governmental body;

(9) does not have an outstanding debt with the commonwealth or any other governmental body in a delinquent status; and

(10) is otherwise qualified and is eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and rules.

(b) Prior to awarding a contract, the governmental entity shall make a determination that the prospective contractor has the necessary capacity to perform in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract.

(c) For all contracts to exceed $ 100,000, a potential contractor shall complete and submit with its bid or offer a certification developed by the procurement officer to provide information needed to determine if a prospective contractor is responsible. The certification shall be signed under the penalty of perjury.

(d) After the contract is awarded, if the governmental body learns that the contractor certified false information, the governmental body may terminate the contract. The contractor shall update its responses in the certification during the term of the contract within 60 days of a material change in a response to its prior questionnaire and prior to the exercise of an option year contract. The governmental body may consider failure of the contractor to update the certification with this information as material breach of the contract and invoke all applicable remedies. Information within the certification may be made available to the public, except to the extent that any information is exempt from disclosure.

(e) A determination by the governmental body that a prospective contractor is non-responsible shall be final. The determination of non-responsibility shall not be overturned unless arbitrary or capricious. Upon determining that a prospective contractor is non-responsible, the governmental body shall consider whether the contractor should be suspended or debarred pursuant to the procedure and criteria of section 29F of chapter 29.  Information about a prospective or current contractor relevant to a contractor's responsibility, or lack thereof, may be submitted for consideration to a governmental entity by a member of the general public.

SECTION 4.  Subsection (a) of section 6 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:-  Governmental bodies are encouraged to utilize competitive sealed proposals as the preferred method for entering into contracts for cleaning, maintenance, or security guard services.

SECTION 5. Section 6 of chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the word “and”, in line 14, and by inserting, in line 18, the following:- and

(4) for cleaning, maintenance or security guard services, the request for proposals shall also include: (1) a statement of required hours and (2) a worksheet requiring a breakdown of the cost components of the hourly proposed rate as developed by the procurement officer.

SECTION 6. Section 6 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “proposals”, in line 46, the following words:- and according to the weight specified for each criterion.

SECTION 7. Section 12 of said chapter 30B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “adjustments”, in line 25, the following words:- and a governmental body may provide for annual adjustments to the contract price to reflect annual increases associated with any wage and benefit requirements the governmental body may establish.