BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 2388|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2388
          Author:   Beall (D)
          Amended:  6/6/12 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE  :  8-0, 6/13/12
          AYES:  Wolk, Dutton, DeSaulnier, Fuller, Hernandez, Kehoe, 
            La Malfa, Liu

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  73-0, 5/10/12 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Santa Clara County Open-Space Authority:  
          authorization to
                      contract

           SOURCE  :     Santa Clara County Open-Space Authority


           DIGEST  :    This bill changes the Santa Clara Open-Space 
          Authoritys contract requirements for supplies, equipment, 
          or materials, as follows:  (1) increases, from $10,000 to 
          $25,000, the threshold at which the Authority must award 
          contracts to the lowest responsible bidder and (2) 
          increases, from $50,000 to $75,000, the threshold at which 
          the Authority must award contracts through formal bidding 
          procedures.  If the Authority's governing board awards a 
          contract to the most responsible and qualified bidder, as 
          defined, this bill specifies that these bidding thresholds 
          do not apply to contract for services, including, services, 
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          including planning, consulting, or legal or appraisal 
          services, or services authorized to be procured for private 
          architects, engineers, land surveying, or construction 
          project management.  The bill defines "most responsible and 
          qualified bidder" as the bidder deemed by the governing 
          board that best fits the needs of the service contract or 
          meets specified criteria.  

           ANALYSIS  :    The Legislature created the Santa Clara 
          Open-Space Authority (SB 2028, Mello, Chapter 822, Statutes 
          of 1992) to acquire, improve, maintain, and preserve 
          open-space lands in the region.  The Authority may contract 
          for services, supplies, equipment, or materials (except for 
          legal or appraisal services or contracts with private 
          architects, engineering, land surveying, and construction 
          project management firms), according to the following 
          contract thresholds:

           If contracts are valued more than $10,000, the Authority 
            must award them to the lowest responsible bidder.

           If contracts are valued between $10,000 and $50,000, the 
            Authority may use informal bidding procedures.

           If contracts are valued over $50,000, the Authority must 
            use formal bidding procedures. 

          This bill changes the Santa Clara Open-Space Authority's 
          contract requirements for supplies, equipment, or 
          materials, as follows:

           Increases, from $10,000 to $25,000, the threshold at 
            which the Authority must award contracts to the lowest 
            responsible bidder.  

           Increases, from $50,000 to $75,000, the threshold at 
            which the Authority must award contracts through formal 
            bidding procedures. 

          If the Authority's governing board awards a contract to the 
          most responsible and qualified bidder, as defined, this 
          bill specifies that these bidding thresholds do not apply 
          to contract for services, including: 


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           Services, including planning, consulting, or legal or 
            appraisal services, or

           Services authorized to be procured for private 
            architects, engineers, land surveying, or construction 
            project management.

          The bill defines "most responsible and qualified bidder" as 
          the bidder deemed by the governing board that best fits the 
          needs of the service contract or meets specified criteria.  
          To determine the most responsible and qualified bidder, the 
          bill provides criteria the governing board may use, 
          including:

           Experience of the bidder as a firm, including past 
            performance of the firm on contracts of similar size and 
            scope,

           Experience and qualifications of personnel on the 
            bidder's team,

           Demonstrated understanding of the scope of the service, 
            including schedule and plan to accomplish, and  
           
           Best overall financial return to the governing board. 

          This bill makes technical and clarifying changes related to 
          formal bid notifications and the governing board.  This 
          bill makes findings and declarations to support the 
          necessity of a special statute because of the Authority's 
          unique circumstances. 

           Comments
           
          Along with a nineteen-year-old contract bid limit that 
          hasn't been adjusted for inflation, the Authority's lowest 
          responsible contract bid requirement prevents them from 
          choosing a more qualified service contract bidder.  By 
          awarding the contract to the lowest responsible bidder, 
          which may not be as responsive to the Authority's needs, 
          the Authority argues that it spends more money overall, 
          using lower cost service providers more frequently.  For 
          example, in April 2010, due to the lowest contract bid 
          requirement, the Authority awarded a three-year contract 

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          for auditing services to the lowest bidder, against staff 
          and counsel's recommendation for another higher-cost 
          auditor.  Subsequently, the lowest-bid contractor billed 
          the Authority $3,000 more than the agreed figure.  The 
          Authority had to terminate that contract and now is looking 
          for a new auditor.  This bill requires that the Authority's 
          governing board determine the bidder is the most 
          responsible and qualified bidder and before exempting the 
          service contract from the contract bid thresholds.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/25/12)

          Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (source) 
          East Bay Regional Park District
          Marin County Parks
          Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
          Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District
          Peninsula Open Space Trust
          Santa Clara County
          Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space 
          District


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  73-0, 5/10/12
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines, 
            Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, 
            Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, 
            Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie 
            Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, 
            Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Pan, Perea, 
            Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, 
            Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, 
            John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Cook, Fletcher, Furutani, Jeffries, 
            Norby, Olsen, V. Manuel Pérez



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          AGB:n  6/26/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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