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SUBSTITUTE
HOUSE BILL 1653
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Passed
Legislature - 1999 Regular Session
State of Washington 56th
Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By
Read first time 03/02/1999.
Raising
the limit on agency direct buy authority without competitive bids.
AN
ACT Relating to the dollar limit under which competitive acquisition is not
required; and amending RCW 43.19.1906.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
43.19.1906 and 1995 c 269 s 1404 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 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 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 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)) three thousand dollars
to thirty-five thousand dollars, or subsequent limits as calculated by the
office of financial management, shall be secured from 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)) three thousand dollars to
thirty-five thousand dollars, or subsequent limits as calculated by the office
of financial management, shall be documented for audit purposes. Purchases up
to ((four hundred)) three thousand 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, 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 thirty-five
thousand dollars: PROVIDED, That for purchases between ((two)) three
thousand ((five hundred)) dollars and thirty-five thousand dollars
quotations shall be secured from 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)) three 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))
three thousand ((five hundred)) to 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. However,
the three thousand dollar figure in subsections (2) and (7) of this section may
not be adjusted to exceed five thousand dollars.
