34.042. Competitive bidding may be waived for competitive proposals, when--procedure--contract to be let to the lowest and best offeror.
Competitive bidding may be waived for competitive proposals,when--procedure--contract to be let to the lowest and best offeror.
34.042. 1. When the commissioner of administration determines that theuse of competitive bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous tothe state, supplies may be procured by competitive proposals. Thecommissioner shall state the reasons for such determination, and a reportcontaining those reasons shall be maintained with the vouchers or filespertaining to such purchases. All purchases in excess of five thousanddollars to be made under this section shall be based on competitive proposals.
2. On any purchase where the estimated expenditure shall be twenty-fivethousand dollars or over, the commissioner of administration shall:
(1) Advertise for proposals in at least two daily newspapers of generalcirculation in such places as are most likely to reach prospective offerorsand may advertise in at least two weekly minority newspapers and may providesuch information through an electronic medium available to the general publicat least five days before proposals for such purchases are to be opened.Other methods of advertisement, however, may be adopted by the commissioner ofadministration when such other methods are deemed more advantageous for thesupplies to be purchased;
(2) Post notice of the proposed purchase; and
(3) Solicit proposals by mail or other reasonable method generallyavailable to the public from prospective offerors.
All proposals for such supplies shall be mailed or delivered to the office ofthe commissioner of administration so as to reach such office before the timeset for opening proposals. Proposals shall be opened in a manner to avoiddisclosure of contents to competing offerors during the process ofnegotiation.
3. The contract shall be let to the lowest and best offeror asdetermined by the evaluation criteria established in the request for proposaland any subsequent negotiations conducted pursuant to this subsection. Indetermining the lowest and best offeror, as provided in the request forproposals and under rules promulgated by the commissioner of administration,negotiations may be conducted with responsible offerors who submit proposalsselected by the commissioner of administration on the basis of reasonablecriteria for the purpose of clarifying and assuring full understanding of andresponsiveness to the solicitation requirements. Those offerors shall beaccorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any opportunity fornegotiation and subsequent revision of proposals. Revisions may be permittedafter submission and before award for the purpose of obtaining best and finaloffers. In conducting negotiations there shall be no disclosure of anyinformation derived from proposals submitted by competing offerors. Thecommissioner of administration shall have the right to reject any or allproposals and advertise for new proposals or purchase the required supplies onthe open market if they can be so purchased at a better price.
4. The commissioner shall make available, upon request, to any membersof the general assembly, information pertaining to competitive proposals,including the names of bidders and the amount of each bidder's offering foreach contract.
(L. 1990 S.B. 808 & 672 § 4, A.L. 1995 H.B. 562)