S-3534

AN ACT Relating to higher education purchasing; and reenacting and amending RCW 43.19.1906.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 43.19.1906 and 1987 c 81 s 1 and 1987 c 70 s 2 are each reenacted and 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, as now or hereafter amended. 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 as now or hereafter amended. 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 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 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 thousand dollars, or subsequent limits as calculated by the office of financial management, to a lower dollar amount for purchases by individual state agencies, including purchases of specialized equipment, instructional, and research equipment and materials by colleges and universities, 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 thousand dollars, or subsequent limits as calculated by the office of financial management, shall be secured from enough vendors to assure establishment of a competitive price and may be obtained by telephone or written quotations, or both. 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 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 as now or hereafter amended;

(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 cooperative hospital service organizations as defined in section 501(e) of the Internal Revenue Code, or its successor; ((~~and~~))

(7) Purchases funded by grants, contracts, gifts, or continuing education by state institutions of higher education not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars. The state director of general administration shall establish procedures to assure that purchases made by or on behalf of the state institutions of higher education shall not be made to avoid the fifteen thousand dollar bid limitation. Purchases made up to two thousand five hundred dollars may be made without competitive bids based on buyer experience and knowledge of the market in achieving maximum quality at minimum cost. A record of competition for all such purchases made from two thousand five hundred to fifteen thousand dollars shall be documented for audit purposes on a standard state form approved by the forms management center under provisions of RCW 43.19.510; and

(8) Beginning on July 1, 1989, and on July 1 of each succeeding odd-numbered year, the five thousand dollar limit specified in subsection (2) of this section shall be adjusted as follows: The office of financial management shall calculate such limit by adjusting the previous biennium's limit 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.