_______________________________________________
SENATE
BILL 6025
_______________________________________________
AS
AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed
Legislature - 1999 Regular Session
State of Washington 56th
Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By
Read first time 02/23/1999.
Referred to Committee on Higher Education.
Allowing
purchases for resale by institutions of higher education without using the
competitive bid process.
AN
ACT Relating to purchases for resale by institutions of higher education; 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 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
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 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 for resale by institutions of higher education to other than
public agencies when such purchases are for the express purpose of supporting
instructional programs and may best be executed through direct negotiation with
one or more suppliers in order to meet the special needs of the institution;
(8)
Purchases by institutions of higher education not exceeding thirty-five
thousand dollars: PROVIDED, That for purchases between two 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 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 thirty-five thousand dollars
shall be documented for audit purposes; and
(((8))) (9) 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.
