BILL REQ. #:  H-4358.1 

Read first time 01/16/08.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to locally grown foods; reenacting and amending RCW 28A.335.190; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.335 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28A.335 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature finds that the benefits of school district procurement of locally grown foods include environmental protection, local economic development, improved child nutrition, and food security. Purchasing locally grown foods:
     (a) Reduces the distance and changes the manner in which food travels from producer to consumer, which conserves energy, decreases greenhouse gas emissions, and decreases reliance on oil;
     (b) Expands market opportunities for local farmers, which preserves and strengthens food production and increases the already significant contribution that agriculture makes to local and state economies;
     (c) Contributes to the health and development of school children, which bolsters their ability to achieve educational goals; and
     (d) Reduces reliance on nonlocally grown foods, which increases food access and safety.
     (2) With this act, the legislature provides school districts the authority to consider the distance food travels from the point of production to the point of consumption when making food procurement decisions.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.335.190 and 2005 c 346 s 2 and 2005 c 286 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) When, in the opinion of the board of directors of any school district, the cost of any furniture, supplies, equipment, building, improvements, or repairs, or other work or purchases, except books, will equal or exceed the sum of fifty thousand dollars, complete plans and specifications for such work or purchases shall be prepared and notice by publication given in at least one newspaper of general circulation within the district, once each week for two consecutive weeks, of the intention to receive bids and that specifications and other information may be examined at the office of the board or any other officially designated location: PROVIDED, That the board without giving such notice may make improvements or repairs to the property of the district through the shop and repair department of such district when the total of such improvements or repair does not exceed the sum of forty thousand dollars. The cost of any public work, improvement or repair for the purposes of this section shall be the aggregate of all amounts to be paid for labor, material, and equipment on one continuous or interrelated project where work is to be performed simultaneously or in close sequence. The bids shall be in writing and shall be opened and read in public on the date and in the place named in the notice and after being opened shall be filed for public inspection.
     (2) Every purchase of furniture, equipment or supplies, except books, the cost of which is estimated to be in excess of forty thousand dollars, shall be on a competitive basis. The board of directors shall establish a procedure for securing telephone and/or written quotations for such purchases. Whenever the estimated cost is from forty thousand dollars up to seventy-five thousand dollars, the procedure shall require quotations from at least three different sources to be obtained in writing or by telephone, and recorded for public perusal. Whenever the estimated cost is in excess of seventy-five thousand dollars, the public bidding process provided in subsection (1) of this section shall be followed.
     (3) Any school district may purchase goods produced or provided in whole or in part from class II inmate work programs operated by the department of corrections pursuant to RCW 72.09.100, including but not limited to furniture, equipment, or supplies. School districts are encouraged to set as a target to contract, beginning after June 30, 2006, to purchase up to one percent of the total goods required by the school districts each year, goods produced or provided in whole or in part from class II inmate work programs operated by the department of corrections.
     (4) Every building, improvement, repair or other public works project, the cost of which is estimated to be in excess of forty thousand dollars, shall be on a competitive bid process. Whenever the estimated cost of a public works project is one hundred thousand dollars or more, the public bidding process provided in subsection (1) of this section shall be followed unless the contract is let using the small works roster process in RCW 39.04.155 or under any other procedure authorized for school districts. One or more school districts may authorize an educational service district to establish and operate a small works roster for the school district under the provisions of RCW 39.04.155.
     (5) The contract for the work or purchase shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder as defined in RCW 43.19.1911 but the board may by resolution reject any and all bids and make further calls for bids in the same manner as the original call. On any work or purchase the board shall provide bidding information to any qualified bidder or the bidder's agent, requesting it in person.
     (6) The board of directors of any school district may establish a percentage price preference of up to twenty-five percent for the purpose of increasing procurement of locally grown food.
     (a) As used in this subsection, "locally grown food" means substances or products used by humans as food or drink that are planted, cultivated, harvested, raised, or collected within the state of Washington or within the states and provinces participating in the Pacific Northwest economic region as enacted in chapter 43.147 RCW.
     (b) As used in this subsection, "percentage price preference" means the percent by which a responsive bid from a responsible bidder whose product is a locally grown food may exceed the lowest responsive bid submitted by a responsible bidder whose product is not a locally grown food.
     (c) This subsection (6) does not apply to procurement of food by a school if it is determined that compliance with this subsection would:
     (i) Cause denial of federal moneys; or
     (ii) Be inconsistent with the requirements of federal law.
     (7) In the event of any emergency when the public interest or property of the district would suffer material injury or damage by delay, upon resolution of the board declaring the existence of such an emergency and reciting the facts constituting the same, the board may waive the requirements of this section with reference to any purchase or contract: PROVIDED, That an "emergency", for the purposes of this section, means a condition likely to result in immediate physical injury to persons or to property of the school district in the absence of prompt remedial action.
     (((7))) (8) This section does not apply to the direct purchase of school buses by school districts and educational services in accordance with RCW 28A.160.195.