BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2388
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2388 (Beall)
As Amended August 13, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 10, 2012) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 20, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. GOV.
SUMMARY : Increases, for the Santa Clara County Open Space
Authority (Authority), the thresholds for specified bidding
requirements, and makes other changes to the Authority's
enabling act.
The Senate amendments :
1)Clarify, for the Authority, that contracts for services, as
specified, shall be awarded by the governing board to the most
responsible and qualified bidder.
2)Define "most responsible and qualified bidder" to mean the
bidder deemed by the governing board that best fits the needs
of the service contract or meets the criteria prescribed in 3)
below.
3)Provide, in determining the most responsible and qualified
bidder, that the governing board may use criteria, including,
but not limited to, all of the following:
a) Experience of the bidder as a firm, including past
performance of the firm on contracts of similar size and
scope;
b) Experience and qualifications of personnel employed by
the bidder;
c) Demonstrated understanding of the scope of the service,
including schedule and plan to accomplish the service; and,
d) Best overall financial return to the governing board on
the contract.
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4)Specify that a responsible bidder meets the qualifications of
demonstrating the attribute of trustworthiness, as well as
quality, fitness, and experience to satisfactorily perform the
work or provide the goods required.
5)Make other technical and corrective changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the Authority, when a contract for any services,
supplies, equipment or materials, except for legal or
appraisal services, or other services as specified, exceeds
$10,000, to be contracted for and let to the lowest
responsible bidder, allows contracts of $50,000 or less to be
let by informal bidding procedures, and requires contracts of
more than $50,000 to be let by formal bidding procedures.
2)Exempts legal or appraisal services, and contracts for
services authorized to be procured for public work and public
purchases, as specified, from bidding requirements for the
Authority.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Modified contracting requirements for the Authority, as
follows:
a) For a contract for any supplies, equipment, or
materials:
i) Increased the threshold from $10,000 to $25,000, for
a contract that exceeds this amount that is required to
be let to the lowest responsible bidder;
ii) Increased the threshold from $50,000 to $75,000, for
a contract that is this amount or less that may be let by
informal bidding procedures;
iii) Increased the threshold from $50,000 to $75,000, for
a contract that exceeds this amount that is required to
be let by formal bidding procedures.
b) Deleted provisions in the Authority's enabling act that
require the Authority to use existing bidding requirements
for contracts related to services.
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c) Exempted the above thresholds in 1a) above, for
contracts for services including planning and other
consulting services.
2)Found and declared that a special statute is necessary because
of the unique circumstances applicable only to the Authority.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : The Authority was established by SB 2028 (Mello),
Chapter 822, Statutes of 1992. SB 2028 specified the duties,
powers, and function of the Authority relating to the
acquisition, improvement, maintenance and preservation of
open-space lands. That bill allowed the Authority to contract
for property improvement, supplies, and services and allowed
contracts less than $10,000 to be let without bids; contracts
between $10,000 and $50,000 were required to be let to the
lowest bidder subsequent to an information bidding procedure;
and, contracts over $50,000 require formal competitive bids.
This bill, sponsored by the Authority, seeks to raise the
threshold for requiring bidding and board approval of the lowest
responsible bidder from $10,000 to $25,000. According to the
author and sponsor, the Authority's enabling act was enacted 20
years ago, and at that time, no cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA)
was inserted into that particular section. The sponsor notes
that that threshold has made it more difficult for the Authority
to let contracts for discreet projects of a minor nature without
board approval, and this hampers the ability of the Authority
and the General Manager to efficiently perform ministerial and
maintenance tasks.
The bill also makes changes to the nature of contracts and the
applicability to the bidding requirement thresholds. Current
law already exempts contracting requirements for the Authority
for legal or appraisal services, or services authorized to be
procured for public work and public purchases, as specified.
This bill additionally exempts all contracts for services,
"including, but not limited to planning, consulting, legal or
appraisal services, or to contracts for services authorized to
be procured for Ýpublic work and public purchases]." The net
effect is that the bill allows a wider range of services to be
exempted from bidding requirements.
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According to the author, "having the Authority subject to the
lowest responsible bidder requirements for services, such as
planning or training, affects the ability of the Authority to be
more responsive to public needs." For instance, the Authority
is about to embark on strategic planning, but under a strict
reading of existing law, the Authority would have to choose a
strategic planning consultant that provides the service for the
lowest price, which the Authority believes is not necessarily in
the public interest. The author and sponsor note that other
open space agencies are not subject to lowest responsible
bidding requirements for services generally.
The author notes that similar open space agencies throughout the
state have for many years utilized the thresholds that are
contained in this bill, including East Bay Regional Park
District, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and Sonoma
County Agricultural and Open Space District.
Amendments taken in the Senate clarify that contract for
services, as specified, must be awarded by the Authority's
governing board to the most responsible and qualified bidder.
The Senate amendments also define the term "most responsible and
qualified bidder" and specify a list of criteria that must be
used by the Authority's governing board to determine the bidder
that best fits the needs of the service contract.
Support arguments: Supporters believe that this bill will help
the Authority perform its functions in a far more efficient
manner, not only saving money, but ensuring that the Authority
is more responsive to public needs.
Opposition arguments: None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
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