Bill Text: CT SB00989 | 2017 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning The State Contracting Standards Board And Requirements For Privatization Contracts.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-13 - File Number 619 [SB00989 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2017-SB00989-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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January Session, 2017 |
*_____SB00989GAE___032817____* |
AN ACT CONCERNING THE STATE CONTRACTING STANDARDS BOARD AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATIZATION CONTRACTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (21) of section 4e-1 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(21) "Privatization contract" means (A) an agreement or series of agreements between a state contracting agency and a person or entity in which such person or entity agrees to provide services that are substantially similar to and in lieu of services provided, in whole or in part, by state employees, other than contracts with a nonprofit agency, which are in effect as of January 1, 2009, and which through a renewal, modification, extension or rebidding of contracts continue to be provided by a nonprofit agency; or (B) a procurement contract entered into on or after July 1, 2017, for which subsequent related services, the total cost of which exceed fifty thousand dollars per year, will be required;
Sec. 2. Subdivision (28) of section 4e-1 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(28) "State contracting agency" means any executive branch agency, board, commission, department, office, institution or council. "State contracting agency" does not include the judicial branch, the legislative branch, the offices of the Secretary of the State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, with respect to their constitutional functions, any state agency with respect to contracts specific to the constitutional and statutory functions of the office of the State Treasurer. For the purposes of section 4e-16, as amended by this act, "state contracting agency" includes any constituent unit of the state system of higher education and, [for] notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, any quasi-public agency created to provide financing for any such constituent unit and any quasi-public agency not specifically excluded under this chapter. For the purposes of section 4e-19, "state contracting agency" includes the State Education Resource Center, established under section 10-4q;
Sec. 3. Subsection (m) of section 4e-2 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(m) [Eight] The lesser of eight members of the board, or a majority of the appointed members of the board, including [not less than] in either case, at least one member appointed by a legislative leader, shall constitute a quorum which shall be required for the transaction of business by the board.
Sec. 4. Subsection (c) of section 4e-13 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(c) All state agencies in the executive branch, the constituent units of the state system of higher education and quasi-public agencies shall post all bids, requests for proposals and all resulting contracts and agreements on the State Contracting Portal and shall, with the assistance of the Department of Administrative Services as needed, develop the infrastructure and capability to electronically communicate with the State Contracting Portal. No privatization contract shall be valid unless, at least thirty days prior to the execution of such contract, all certifications required by section 4e-16, as amended by this act, have been posted on the State Contracting Portal.
Sec. 5. Subsection (p) of section 4e-16 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(p) Prior to entering into or renewing any privatization contract that is not subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the state contracting agency shall evaluate such contract to determine if entering into or renewing such contract is the most cost-effective method of delivering the service, by determining the costs, as defined in subsection (b) of this section, of such service. If the privatization contract is for a total amount of more than one million dollars, the state contracting agency shall also develop a business case for such privatization contract in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d) of this section. The state contracting agency shall perform such evaluation of cost-effectiveness in accordance with a template prescribed by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and such evaluation shall be subject to verification by the secretary. Such template shall require a certification by the state contracting agency that it has complied with all requirements of this subsection and an explanation for the basis of such agency's determination that the provisions of subsection (a) of this section do not apply. If such evaluation of cost-effectiveness includes a determination by the state contracting agency that there are no savings to the state if the contract is performed by the contractor, such agency shall not enter into such contract without (1) providing a written report to the secretary concerning the reason such agency seeks to enter into such contract despite a lack of savings, and (2) receiving written authorization from the secretary to enter into such contract. If such contract is not a renewal, the state contracting agency shall also consider and report, in writing, to the secretary on whether the quality of services could be diminished by the privatization contract and any risks associated with the termination or rescission of such contract. The secretary may waive the requirement for an evaluation of cost-effectiveness under this subsection upon a written finding by the secretary that exigent or emergent circumstances necessitate such waiver.
Sec. 6. Section 4e-16 of the general statutes is amended by adding subsections (r) to (t), inclusive, as follows (Effective July 1, 2017):
(NEW) (r) A state contracting agency that seeks to enter into or renew a privatization contract shall, not less than sixty days before entering into or renewing such contract, provide written notice to any collective bargaining agent that represents state employees performing work of the type and nature required by the privatization contract. Such notice shall include the information required under subsections (a) to (d), inclusive, of this section, or subsection (p) of this section, as applicable, and shall offer the collective bargaining agent the opportunity to meet with the agency to discuss such information and discuss whether the work could more appropriately be performed by state employees, prior to the contract being entered into or renewed by the agency.
(NEW) (s) Any state contracting agency that seeks approval of a contract that could be done more inexpensively by state employees but determines there is an insufficient number of state employees within such agency to perform the contract shall, not later than sixty days after making such determination, submit a plan to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management for preventing a recurrence of such insufficiency by requesting authorization for the hiring of additional state employees. The secretary shall, upon the submission of any proposed budget or budget adjustment by the Governor, report to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies and government administration, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, on whether and to what extent such agency plans are included in such submission and the basis for determining whether and to what extent to include such plans in the budget or budget adjustment.
(NEW) (t) No state contracting agency may enter into a privatization contract without obtaining the formal approval of the contract from the Attorney General. Prior to entering into any such contract, the agency shall submit to the Attorney General (1) a copy of the proposed contract, (2) any certifications required by this section attached to the contract, and (3) either a certification that the contract is not subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a certification that the contract was approved by the State Contracting Standards Board or a copy of the written exemption from the requirements of subsection (a) of this section signed by the Governor pursuant to subsection (o) of this section. Any privatization contract entered into on or after the effective date of this section shall not be binding upon the state unless such privatization contract conforms with the requirements of this subsection.
Sec. 7. Section 4e-47 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
On or [after January 1, 2011,] before January 1, 2018, each constituent unit of the state system of higher education shall propose regulations to the State Contracting Standards Board to be adopted by the board. The board shall adopt such regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, [to apply the contracting procedures, as described in sections 4e-18 to 4e-45, inclusive, to each constituent unit of the state system of higher education] with any modifications to the proposed regulations the board deems appropriate. Such regulations shall take into consideration circumstances and factors that are unique to such constituent units. Until such regulations are adopted by the State Contracting Standards Board, the provisions of sections 4e-18 to 4e-46, inclusive, shall apply to every expenditure of public funds by any constituent unit of the state system of higher education, irrespective of the source of such funds.
Sec. 8. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2017) (a) Not later than ninety days after the adjournment sine die of each regular session of the General Assembly, the Auditors of Public Accounts shall recommend to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management the appropriate staffing levels at the State Contracting Standards Board that are sufficient for the board to carry out its statutory duties. In any year during which the board is staffed at substantially lower levels than recommended by the auditors, the auditors may issue the compliance report for each state contracting agency as required under section 4e-6 of the general statutes. If such a compliance report has not been issued for an agency for three years or more as of December thirty-first of any calendar year, the auditors shall issue such report not later than April first of the following calendar year.
(b) To the extent the State Contracting Standards Board remains below the staffing level recommended by the auditors, each state contracting agency shall designate an employee to serve as a liaison with the State Contracting Standards Board. Such liaison shall notify the board of any privatization contract valued at over fifty thousand dollars and shall provide the board any evaluation or analysis of such contract not later than ten days after the agency completes such evaluation or analysis. An electronic communication to the board that directs the staff of the board to a posting on the State Contracting Portal shall constitute sufficient notice under this subsection. Each state contracting agency shall inform its liaison that any such reporting is an essential part of such employee's duties.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
July 1, 2017 |
4e-1(21) |
Sec. 2 |
July 1, 2017 |
4e-1(28) |
Sec. 3 |
July 1, 2017 |
4e-2(m) |
Sec. 4 |
July 1, 2017 |
4e-13(c) |
Sec. 5 |
July 1, 2017 |
4e-16(p) |
Sec. 6 |
July 1, 2017 |
4e-16 |
Sec. 7 |
July 1, 2017 |
4e-47 |
Sec. 8 |
July 1, 2017 |
New section |
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
Sections 1 to 6, inclusive, were changed to Effective July 1, 2017 for internal consistency, Section 1 was restructured for clarity and in Section 7, "January 1, 2017" was changed to "January 1, 2018" for accuracy.
GAE |
House Favorable Subst. -LCO |