BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1444|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1444
          Author:   Garrick (R)
          Amended:  4/20/09 in Assembly
          Vote:     21

           
           SEN. GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE  :  11-0, 7/8/09
          AYES:  Wright, Harman, Benoit, Calderon, Denham, Florez,  
            Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Price, Wyland, Yee
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Oropeza, Wiggins

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/21/09 (Consent) - See last page  
            for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Disposition of state property:  services  
          contracts

           SOURCE  :     Department of General Services


           DIGEST  :    This bill authorizes the Department of General  
          Services to advertise and award service contracts related  
          to the disposition of state-owned real property, and to  
          establish a list of prequalified firms that may enter into  
          such contracts.

           ANALYSIS  :    Current law authorizes the Department of  
          General Services (DDGS) to take various actions with  
          respect to the sale, lease, and disposition of state  
          properties, including entering into lease purchase  
                                                           CONTINUED





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          agreements with state agencies for specified state  
          properties.

          Under current law, the state is authorized to utilize  
          multiple awards, including Federal General Service  
          Administration (GS) Multiple Awards Schedules (MAS) and  
          master agreements or contracts for goods, information  
          technology, services, or consulting services.

          Existing law authorizes state agencies, in exercising their  
          contracting authority delegated by DGS, to contract with  
          suppliers who have MAS with the Federal GSA on the same  
          terms, conditions, and prices if the supplier is agreeable.  
           The state MAS process is referred to as the California  
          Multiple Awards Schedules (CMAS).

          Current law authorizes DGS to require vendors to be  
          prequalified prior to placing bids in a reverse auction.

          Current law, The Small Business Procurement and Contract  
          Act, permits a state agency a contract for goods, services,  
          or information technology with a value of between $5,000  
          and $100,000 to a small business without complying with  
          competitive bidding requirements.

          The California Constitution requires proceeds from the sale  
          of all surplus properties be used to pay the principal and  
          interest on the bonds authorized under the Economic  
          Recovery Bond Act.  After those specific bonds are retired,  
          money from the sale of surplus properties must be placed in  
          the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties.

          Existing law requires authorization by the Legislature  
          prior to the disposition by sale or otherwise of state land  
          reported by a state agency in excess of its foreseeable  
          needs.

          This bill:

          1.Defines "qualified firm" as an individual, firm, or  
            combination of firms and individuals having appropriate  
            expertise and knowledge related to due diligence  
            investigations, land use planning, real estate  
            development, entitlement, appraisals, real estate  







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            economics and valuation, marketing, public relations,  
            auctioning, and other related matters involved in the  
            disposal, reuse, leasing, and sale of real property.

          2.Defines "prequalified list" as a list of firms that  
            possess the qualifications established by DGS to perform  
            specific types of services needed.

          3.Establishes a process to advertise and award contracts,  
            which includes soliciting statements of qualifications of  
            interested firms and making announcements through the  
            State Contracts Registrar and applicable publications.

          4.Requires DGS to use the prequalified list of a particular  
            category (or profession) to find at least three firms  
            with sufficient staffing available for the project.  If  
            the first category does not yield three results, DGS may  
            utilize other categories that can provide the desired  
            services.

          5.Requires DGS to solicit cost proposals form the three  
            identified firms available and originating from the  
            prequalified list, and to negotiate a contract with the  
            best qualified firm at compensation deemed fair and  
            reasonable to the State.

          6.Requires DGS to negotiate a contract with the next  
            qualified firm if DGS is unable to negotiate a successful  
            contract with the identified qualified firm.  Also,  
            permits DGS to remove a qualified firm from the  
            prequalified list if contract negotiations are  
            unsuccessful on three separate occasions.

          7.Requires DGS to update prequalified lists at least every  
            two years from the date the lists are established to  
            include additional firms.  Also, allows DGS to add  
            qualified firms more frequently than every two years.

          8.Makes it explicit that contracts for services that DGS  
            elects to advertise and award in accordance with the  
            provisions of this bill are not subject to existing  
            provisions of law applicable to Personal & Consulting  
            Services Contracts (Article 4, commencing with Section  
            10335 of the Public Contracts Code) and shall not include  







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            services defined in Chapter 10, commencing with Section  
            4525 of the Government Code (e.g., contracts with private  
            architects, engineering, land surveying and construction  
            project management firms).

           Comments

           According to the author's office, this bill is intended to  
          allow DGS to establish lists of prequalified external  
          consultants who can perform the various services DGS  
          typically utilizes as part of its real property disposition  
          program.  According to DGS, following legislative  
          authorization to sell state-owned property, the state can  
          sell the property either "as is" or "subject to"  
          entitlements.  DGS utilizes a variety of contracted  
          professional consultants such as real estate economists,  
          marketing consultants, and entitlement specialists, in its  
          real property sales and property enhancement program.

          For larger, more valuable properties, DGS utilizes an  
          entitlement enhancement process to increase the value.   
          These types of properties have significant revenue  
          potential when they are reasoned through the local  
          government entitlement process (e.g., zoning, general plan  
          amendments and specific plan processes).  DGS uses  
          specialized consultants to perform the preliminary  
          entitlement work, prior to placing the real property on the  
          real estate market.

          This process eliminates much of the risk for the buyer  
          since the buyer and DGS already understand the level of  
          entitlements before close of escrow on the sale of the  
          property.  A buyer is inclined to pay a higher price for  
          the property to the State for the reduced risk resulting  
          from this process.

          DGS states that this bill would probably affect  
          approximately 10-12 contracts each year.  In addition,  
          there are only a select number of specialized consultants  
          who would meet the criteria for the type of services DGS is  
          looking for and who would become eligible on the  
          prequalified list.  The Request for Proposal process used  
          to hire an external consultant can take three to six  
          months, and costs approximately $25,000 to $50,000 in staff  







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          resources.  DGS claims that using a prequalified list will  
          reduce this administrative cost to approximately $5,000.

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

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/18/09)

          Department of General Services


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill  
            Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,  
            Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,  
            Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,  
            DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,  
            Fong, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,  
            Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,  
            Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,  
            Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,  
            Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel  
            Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner,  
            Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson,  
            Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Fuentes, Nava, Saldana


          TSM:cm  8/18/09   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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