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ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 5180
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AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
C 081 L 87
State of Washington 50th Legislature 1987 Regular Session
By Senate Committee on Governmental Operations (originally sponsored by Senators Rinehart, Saling and Stratton)
Read first time 2/03/87.
AN ACT Relating to competitive bids; and amending RCW 43.19.1906.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. Section 43.19.1906, chapter 8, Laws of 1965 as last amended by section 1, chapter 342, Laws of 1985 and RCW 43.19.1906 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, 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 ((twenty-five hundred dollars, or purchases not
exceeding)) five thousand dollars ((when the purchases are made by
colleges and universities and are limited to the acquisition of equipment and
materials to be used for research purposes)), 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 ((twenty-five hundred dollar or 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 ((twenty-five hundred dollars and)) 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 ((twenty-five hundred
dollars or)) five thousand dollars, ((whichever is applicable,)) 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 ((twenty-five hundred dollars or)) five thousand dollars, ((whichever
is applicable,)) 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; ((and))
(6) Purchases by universities for hospital operation or biomedical teaching or research purposes 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) 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.