BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2388| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ 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, CONTINUED AB 2388 Page 2 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: CONTINUED AB 2388 Page 3 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 CONTINUED AB 2388 Page 4 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 CONTINUED AB 2388 Page 5 AGB:n 6/26/12 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED