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ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2815
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AS RECOMMENDED BY THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
Passed Legislature - 1994 Regular Session
State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1994
Regular Session
By
Read first time 02/04/94.
Reforming state procurement
practices.
AN ACT Relating to
reforming state procurement practices; and amending RCW 43.19.1906 and
43.19.1908.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 43.19.1906 and 1993
c 379 s 103 are each amended to read as follows:
Insofar as practicable,
all purchases and sales shall be based on competitive bids, and a formal sealed
bid procedure shall be used as standard procedure for all purchases and
contracts for purchases and sales executed by the state purchasing and material
control director and under the powers granted by RCW 43.19.190 through
43.19.1939. This requirement also applies to purchases and contracts for
purchases and sales executed by agencies, including educational institutions,
under delegated authority granted in accordance with provisions of RCW
43.19.190 or under RCW 28B.10.029. However, formal sealed bidding is not
necessary for:
(1) Emergency purchases
made pursuant to RCW 43.19.200 if the sealed bidding procedure would prevent or
hinder the emergency from being met appropriately;
(2) Purchases not
exceeding ((five)) thirty-five thousand dollars, or subsequent
limits as calculated by the office of financial management: PROVIDED, That the
state director of general administration shall establish procedures to assure
that purchases made by or on behalf of the various state agencies shall not be
made so as to avoid the ((five)) thirty-five thousand dollar bid
limitation, or subsequent bid limitations as calculated by the office of
financial management: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the state purchasing and material
control director is authorized to reduce the formal sealed bid limits of ((five))
thirty-five thousand dollars, or subsequent limits as calculated by the
office of financial management, to a lower dollar amount for purchases by
individual state agencies if considered necessary to maintain full disclosure
of competitive procurement or otherwise to achieve overall state efficiency and
economy in purchasing and material control. Quotations from four hundred
dollars to ((five)) thirty-five thousand dollars, or subsequent
limits as calculated by the office of financial management, shall be secured
from ((enough)) at least three vendors to assure establishment of
a competitive price and may be obtained by telephone or written quotations, or
both. The agency shall invite at least one quotation each from a certified
minority and a certified women-owned vendor who shall otherwise qualify to
perform such work. Immediately after the award is made, the bid quotations
obtained shall be recorded and open to public inspection and shall be available
by telephone inquiry. A record of competition for all such purchases from four
hundred dollars to ((five)) thirty-five thousand dollars, or
subsequent limits as calculated by the office of financial management, shall be
documented for audit purposes ((on a standard state form approved by the
forms management center under the provisions of RCW 43.19.510)). Purchases
up to four hundred dollars may be made without competitive bids based on buyer
experience and knowledge of the market in achieving maximum quality at minimum
cost: PROVIDED, That this four hundred dollar direct buy limit without
competitive bids may be increased incrementally as required to a maximum of
eight hundred dollars with the approval of at least ten of the members of the
state supply management advisory board, if warranted by increases in purchasing
costs due to inflationary trends;
(3) Purchases which are
clearly and legitimately limited to a single source of supply and purchases
involving special facilities, services, or market conditions, in which
instances the purchase price may be best established by direct negotiation;
(4) Purchases of
insurance and bonds by the risk management office under RCW 43.19.1935;
(5) Purchases and
contracts for vocational rehabilitation clients of the department of social and
health services: PROVIDED, That this exemption is effective only when the
state purchasing and material control director, after consultation with the
director of the division of vocational rehabilitation and appropriate
department of social and health services procurement personnel, declares that
such purchases may be best executed through direct negotiation with one or more
suppliers in order to expeditiously meet the special needs of the state's
vocational rehabilitation clients;
(6) Purchases by
universities for hospital operation or biomedical teaching or research purposes
and by the state purchasing and material control director, as the agent for
state hospitals as defined in RCW 72.23.010, and for health care programs
provided in state correctional institutions as defined in RCW 72.65.010(3) and
veterans' institutions as defined in RCW 72.36.010 and 72.36.070, made by
participating in contracts for materials, supplies, and equipment entered into
by nonprofit cooperative hospital group purchasing organizations;
(7) Purchases by
institutions of higher education not exceeding ((fifteen)) thirty-five
thousand dollars: PROVIDED, That for purchases between two thousand five
hundred dollars and ((fifteen)) thirty-five thousand dollars
quotations shall be secured from ((enough)) at least three vendors
to assure establishment of a competitive price and may be obtained by telephone
or written quotations, or both. For purchases between two thousand five
hundred dollars and thirty-five thousand dollars, each institution of higher
education shall invite at least one quotation each from a certified minority
and a certified women-owned vendor who shall otherwise qualify to perform such
work. A record of competition for all such purchases made from two
thousand five hundred to ((fifteen)) thirty-five thousand dollars
shall be documented for audit purposes; and
(8) Beginning on July
1, 1995, and on July 1 of each succeeding odd-numbered year, the dollar limits
specified in this section shall be adjusted as follows: The office of
financial management shall calculate such limits by adjusting the previous
biennium's limits by the appropriate federal inflationary index reflecting the
rate of inflation for the previous biennium. Such amounts shall be rounded to
the nearest one hundred dollars.
Sec. 2. RCW 43.19.1908 and 1965
c 8 s 43.19.1908 are each amended to read as follows:
Competitive
bidding required by RCW 43.19.190 through 43.19.1939 shall be solicited by
public notice, and through the sending of notices by mail, electronic
transmission, or other means to bidders on the appropriate list of bidders
who shall have qualified by application to the division of purchasing. Bids
may be solicited by the purchasing division from any source thought to be of
advantage to the state. All bids shall be in writing and conform to rules of
the division of purchasing.
