Bill Text: MS HB299 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State agency purchases and contracts; require percentage of total expenditures for to be made with disabled veterans.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2010-02-02 - Died In Committee [HB299 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2010-HB299-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Military Affairs; Appropriations
By: Representative Chism
House Bill 299
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-104-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DIRECT THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REVIEW BOARD TO ADOPT REGULATIONS GOVERNING COMMODITY AND EQUIPMENT PURCHASES AND STATE FACILITIES CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS OF STATE AGENCIES IN A MANNER SO THAT NOT LESS THAN THREE PERCENT OF THE TOTAL EXPENDITURES OF ALL AGENCIES FOR THOSE PURPOSES WILL BE MADE TO QUALIFIED DISABLED VETERANS; TO REQUIRE THE EXECUTIVE HEAD OF EACH AGENCY TO ESTABLISH GOALS FOR THE PARTICIPATION BY QUALIFIED DISABLED VETERANS IN PURCHASES, LEASES AND CONTRACTS OF THE AGENCY IN ORDER TO MEET THE THREE-PERCENT REQUIREMENT; TO REQUIRE THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REVIEW BOARD TO ANNUALLY REVIEW THE PROGRESS OF AGENCIES IN REACHING THEIR GOALS TO MEET THE THREE-PERCENT REQUIREMENT, WITH INPUT FROM STATEWIDE VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS AND FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, AND TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE LEGISLATURE REGARDING WHETHER THE THREE-PERCENT REQUIREMENT SHOULD BE CONTINUED, INCREASED OR DECREASED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 27-104-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-104-7. (1) There is * * * created within the Department of Finance and Administration the Public Procurement Review Board, which shall be composed of the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration, the head of the Office of Budget and Policy Development and an employee of the Office of General Services who is familiar with the purchasing laws of this state. The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration shall be chairman and shall preside over the meetings of the board. The board shall annually elect a vice chairman, who shall serve in the absence of the chairman. No business shall be transacted, including adoption of rules of procedure, without the presence of a quorum of the board. Two (2) members shall be a quorum. No action shall be valid unless approved by the chairman and one (1) other of those members present and voting, entered upon the minutes of the board and signed by the chairman. The board shall meet on a monthly basis and at any other time when notified by the chairman. Necessary clerical and administrative support for the board shall be provided by the Department of Finance and Administration. Minutes shall be kept of the proceedings of each meeting, copies of which shall be filed on a monthly basis with the Legislative Budget Office.
(2) The Public Procurement Review Board shall have the following powers and responsibilities:
(a) Approve all purchasing regulations governing the purchase or lease by any agency, as defined in Section 31-7-1, of commodities and equipment, except computer equipment acquired pursuant to Sections 25-53-1 through 25-53-29;
(b) Adopt regulations governing the approval of contracts let for the construction and maintenance of state buildings and other state facilities;
(c) Adopt regulations governing any lease or rental agreement by any state agency or department, including any state agency financed entirely by federal funds, for space outside the buildings under the jurisdiction of the Department of Finance and Administration;
(d) Adopt, in its discretion, regulations to set aside at least five percent (5%) of anticipated annual expenditures for the purchase of commodities from minority businesses; however, all such set-aside purchases shall comply with all purchasing regulations promulgated by the department and shall be subject to all bid requirements. Set-aside purchases for which competitive bids are required shall be made from the lowest and best minority business bidder; however, if no minority bid is available or if the minority bid is more than two percent (2%) higher than the lowest bid, then bids shall be accepted and awarded to the lowest and best bidder. * * * However, * * * the provisions in this paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the rejection of a bid when only one (1) bid is received. Such rejection shall be placed in the minutes. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "minority business" means a business which is owned by a person who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who is:
(i) Black: having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
(ii) Hispanic: of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin regardless of race.
(iii) Asian American: having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands.
(iv) American Indian or Alaskan Native: having origins in any of the original peoples of North America.
(v) Female;
(e) Adopt regulations governing the purchase or lease of commodities and equipment by any agency, and governing contracts entered into by any agency for the construction and maintenance of state buildings and other state facilities, in a manner so that not less than three percent (3%) of the total expenditures of all agencies for those purposes will be made to qualified disabled veterans. All of those purchases, leases and contracts with qualified disabled veterans shall comply with all purchasing regulations adopted or approved by the Public Procurement Review Board and shall be subject to all statutory bid requirements. In meeting the three-percent requirement of this paragraph, the Public Procurement Review Board may count that portion of purchases, leases and contracts by agencies in which the seller, lessor or contractor subcontracts with a qualified disabled veteran;
(f) In consultation with and approval by the Chairmen of the Senate and House Public Property Committees, approve leases, for a term not to exceed eighteen (18) months, entered into by state agencies for the purpose of providing parking arrangements for state employees who work in the Woolfolk Building, the Carroll Gartin Justice Building or the Walter Sillers Office Building. The provisions of this paragraph (f) shall stand repealed on July 1, 2010.
(3) No member of the Public Procurement Review Board shall use his official authority or influence to coerce, by threat of discharge from employment, or otherwise, the purchase of commodities or the contracting for public construction under this chapter.
(4) The executive head of each agency, after consultation with the Public Procurement Review Board, shall establish goals for the participation by qualified disabled veterans in purchases, leases and contracts of the agency in order to meet the three-percent requirement of subsection (2)(e) of this section. Each year, the Public Procurement Review Board shall review the progress of all agencies in reaching their goals to meet the three-percent requirement, with input from statewide veterans service organizations and from the business community, including businesses owned by qualified disabled veterans, and shall make recommendations to the Legislature regarding whether the three-percent requirement should be continued, increased or decreased. The recommendations shall be based upon the number of businesses that are owned by qualified disabled veterans and on the continued need to encourage and promote businesses owned by qualified disabled veterans.
(5) As used in subsection (2)(e) and subsection (4) of this section:
(a) The terms "agency," "commodities," "equipment," "construction," and "purchase" have the meanings as defined in Section 31-7-1.
(b) "Qualified disabled veteran" means a business entity that is fifty-one percent (51%) or more owned by one or more veterans with a service-connected disability.
(c) "Service-connected disability" means a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty in the active military, naval or air service, as described in 38 USCS Section 101(16).
(d) "Veteran" means a person who served in the United States Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard and who was discharged or released from his or her service with an honorable or general discharge.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.
