NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10687
SPONSOR: Rules (Peoples-Stoke TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to
authorizing the commissioner of the office of general services and state
agencies to develop alternative procurement methods not otherwise
authorized by law under certain circumstances; and in relation to
authorizing competitive negotiation concluding with a best and final
offer
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this proposed legislation is to increase the transparency
and flexibility of the procurement process.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this proposal adds two new Subdivisions 16 and 17 to
Section 163 of the State Finance Law. The new Subdivision 16 authorizes
alternative procurement methods for the acquisition of non-construction
related commodities and services, or information technology. The new
Subdivision 17 authorizes competitive negotiation concluding with best
and final offer.
Section 2 of the proposal provides for an immediate effective date and
provides that the provisions of section one of the proposal shall apply
to any procurement initiated on or after such date and provides that the
amendments to Section 163 of the State Finance Law shall not affect the
repeal of such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
JUSTIFICATION:
Alternative Procurements: When a State agency develops a procurement
method that does not fit within the requirements of the Procurement
Stewardship Act (the Act), the agency should be able to use such an
alternative method for a specific contract award if certain conditions
are met. The bill authorizes the State Comptroller to approve a contract
awarded on the basis of an alternative procurement method as long as (i)
the contracting agency makes a determination, documented in the procure-
ment record, that such alternative procurement method better serves the
interest of the State than other procurement methods available under the
Act and can be applied on a fair and equitable basis; and (ii) the State
Comptroller approves the alternative procurement method prior to the
procurement. In order to effectively monitor the success or failure of
the alternative procurement method the procuring State agency must file
a report with the Governor, State Comptroller and heads of the Legisla-
tive Fiscal Committees by the mid-term of the resulting contract
concerning the benefits of the alternative method and comparing results
to other procurement methods
Competitive Negotiation with Best and Final Offer: This amendment
expands available procurement options to include competitive negotiation
with multiple vendors to obtain the best result for taxpayers. The State
Comptroller anticipates this change would be useful in highly complex
procurements where approaches to meeting the requirements are not pre-
defined, to encourage innovative solutions amidst changing industry
capabilities, or where there may be opportunities for the state to miti-
gate risk or expense through non-material tradeoffs.
Where the basis of award is best value and after completing an initial
evaluation and scoring, a state agency may choose to make an award at
that time based on best value. Or, if the agency believes a better price
or outcome can be achieved, competitive negotiations can be conducted
with vendors that fall in a competitive range and could potentially be
selected based on the final outcome. The State Comptroller urges the
passage of this proposed legislation.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE:
None. However, this proposal facilitates the use of new methods that
will result in more effective and efficient procurements at reduced
costs and provides additional transparency to the procurement process.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Provides for an immediate effective date and states that certain
provisions shall only apply to any procurement initiated on or after
such date; and further provides that the amendments to Section 163 of
the State Finance Law shall not affect the repeal of such Section and
shall be deemed repealed therewith.
