AB 21

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law, with regard to certain state contracts, requires the awarding department to award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder meeting or making a good faith effort to meet specified statewide participation goals for disabled veteran business enterprises. Existing law requires that, if a bidder cites an approved utilization plan in response to the disabled veteran business enterprise participation requirements of a solicitation that calls for specified business participation, and the solicitation specifies higher participation goals than the utilization plan, the bidder shall meet the goals in the solicitation or make a good faith effort to do so. This bill would instead require the awarding department to award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder meeting specified business enterprise statewide participation goals. The bill would also, if a solicitation specifies higher participation goals than the bidder's utilization plan, require the bidder to meet the goals in the solicitation. Existing law requires that certain contracts awarded by the Director of Corrections or the Director of the Youth Authority have specified statewide participation goals for minority business enterprises, women business enterprises, and disabled veteran enterprises. Existing law requires the awarding department, in awarding these contracts to the lowest responsible bidder, to consider the responsiveness of a bidder to the goals and, if a bidder fails to demonstrate a good faith effort in attaining these goals, requires the awarding department to award the contract to the next lowest responsive and responsible bidder. This bill would delete the requirement that, if a bidder fails to demonstrate a good faith effort in attaining these goals, the awarding department must award the contract to the next lowest responsive and responsible bidder. This bill would require that the state agencies report to the Department of General Services on or before July 1, 2012, and that the department report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2013, on the impact of the above provisions upon outreach efforts and the actual award of contracts to bidders meeting the business enterprise goals. (2) Existing law, with specified exceptions, prohibits any person, firm, or subsidiary thereof who has been awarded a consulting services contract from submitting a bid for, or being awarded a contract for, the provision of services, procurement of goods or supplies, or any other related action that is required, suggested, or otherwise deemed appropriate in the end product of the consulting services contract. Existing law provides that this prohibition does not apply to incidental advice or suggestions made outside of the scope of a consulting services contract with regard to certain contracts for the acquisition of information technology goods and services, as specified. This bill would also exempt from this authorization a contract that is part of a single competitive procurement conducted in more than one stage for information technology goods or services, when the Director of the Department of General Services and the Chief Information Officer determine that there is no conflict of interest, as specified, and that it is in the best interest of the state to utilize this procurement method. The bill would require the department to annually post a report on its Internet Web site describing each determination, as specified, and to provide notice to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee within 30 days of the posting of the report. (3) Existing law requires the Department of General Services, for any contract for information technology goods or services meeting specified requirements, to provide that not less than 10% of the contract price is required to be withheld until final delivery and acceptance of the goods and services, and requires the department to conduct a risk evaluation, as specified. This bill would, until July 1, 2013, require the department, if it determines that lesser withholding levels are appropriate based on the evaluation of risk, to withhold no less than 5% of the contract price, if the contract price is $10,000,000 or more, or no less than 3% of the contract price, if the contract price is less than $10,000,000, until final delivery and acceptance of the goods or services. (4) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. The Governor issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on July 1, 2009. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared by the Governor by proclamation issued on July 1, 2009, pursuant to the California Constitution. (5) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.