BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  SB 1249|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 1249
          Author:   Ducheny (D)
          Amended:  6/1/10
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE  :  7-1, 4/13/10
          AYES:  Wright, Calderon, Florez, Oropeza, Padilla, Price,  
            Yee
          NOES:  Denham
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Harman, Negrete McLeod, Wyland

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  7-3, 5/27/10
          AYES:  Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
          NOES:  Denham, Walters, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Cox


           SUBJECT  :    Public contracts:  best value competitive bid  
          contracts

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill (1) permits competitive bid contracts  
          for construction projects, contracts for goods and  
          services, and contracts for information technology  
          acquisition to be awarded as best value competitive bid  
          contracts, (2) requires that these contracts consider, when  
          awarding the contract, the total direct and indirect  
          economic benefit to the state of the proposed contract, and  
          (3) authorizes the Department of General Services to adopt  
          regulations to assist state agencies in implementing these  
                                                           CONTINUED





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          provisions.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law governs contracting between state  
          agencies and private contractors, sets forth requirements  
          for the bidding, awarding, and overseeing of contracts for  
          construction projects, and regulates the awarding of  
          contracts for the purchase of goods and services.

          Existing law establishes various programs and preferences  
          in public contract law designed to serve a broad public  
          purpose, such as preference for small businesses, disabled  
          veteran business enterprises (DVBE) and recycled products.   
          Existing law designates the Department of General Services  
          (DGS) to administer the Small Business Procurement and  
          Contract Act, including, but not limited to, small  
          business, microbusinesses and DVBE certification processes.

          The Small Business Procurement and Contract Act requires  
          the Director of DGS and the heads of other state agencies  
          that enter into contracts for the provision of goods,  
          services, and information technology and for the  
          construction of state facilities to establish goals for the  
          participation of small businesses in these contracts, to  
          provide for small business preference in the award of these  
          contracts, to give special consideration and special  
          assistance to small businesses, and, whenever possible, to  
          make awards to small businesses, as specified.

          This bill:

          1.Declares Legislative intent to do both of the following  
            to:

             A.   Permit a contract entered into between the state  
               and outside entities to reflect the true costs, both  
               direct and indirect, of the contract to the state.

             B.   Permit the method established for calculating the  
               actual cost of any contract entered into to include  
               both direct and indirect economic benefits to the  
               state through the employment of individuals or  
               companies or both or the purchase of goods or services  
               or both that generate revenues to the state (e.g.,  
               personal, corporate, income taxes, property taxes, or  







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               sales and use taxes.)

          2.Defines "best value competitive bid contract" to mean a  
            contract that is awarded on a competitive process that is  
            not based merely on the lowest direct cost to the state  
            under the contract, but rather is awarded to the bidder  
            that presents the overall best value to the state after  
            consideration of the total direct and indirect economic  
            benefit to the state under the contract.

          3.Requires DGS to consider the direct cost of the contract,  
            including, but not limited to, materials, goods, and  
            services.

          4.Requires DGS to consider the indirect value to the state  
            generated by the contract, including, but not limited to,  
            an analysis of the proposed contract to determine all of  
            the following when scoring a contract:

             A.   The total projected indirect revenue to the state  
               generated by the wages that the contractor and  
               subcontractors, if any, propose to pay their workers  
               in performing under the contract.

             B.   The total projected indirect revenue to California  
               local governments generated by the wages that the  
               contractor and subcontractors, if any, propose to pay  
               their workers in performing under the contract and the  
               indirect revenue to the state generated thereby.

             C.   The total projected indirect revenue to the state  
               generated from the goods and materials that the  
               contractor and subcontractors, if any, propose to  
               purchase or provide in performing under the contract.

             D.   The total projected indirect revenue to California  
               local governments generated by the goods and materials  
               that the contractor and subcontractors, if any,  
               propose to purchase or deliver in performing under the  
               contract and the indirect revenue to the state  
               generated thereby.

             E.   The indirect economic benefit to the state  
               generated by the economic activity related to the  







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               production of the goods and materials to be purchased  
               or delivered under the contract.

          5.Requires DGS to adopt regulations that shall take effect  
            immediately and are exempt from the rulemaking provisions  
            of the Administrative Procedure Act to provide guidance  
            to state agencies on best methods and practices and a  
            related matrix to assist those agencies in determining  
            the overall best value.

          6.Provides that no contract shall be awarded to a bidder  
            under this bill if the Director of DGS determines that  
            the award of the contract to that bidder would result in  
            a net loss of revenues to the General Fund based on  
            estimates of the total direct and indirect economic  
            benefit to the state under the contract.

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

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: 

                          Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

          Major Provisions                   2010-11            
           2011-12   2012-13        Fund  
          Regulations to implement Unknown, likely significant costs  
          one time   Special*
          best value competitive bid
          contracts

          Use of best value                                 Unknown  
          costs, fully offset by savings                            
          General/
          competitive bid process                           or  
          revenue that must balance or bid                           
          various
                              process could not be used.               
              Special

          * Service Revolving Fund

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  5/27/10)








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          - - - - 

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  5/27/10)

          Department of Finance
          Associated Builders and Contractors of California
          California Chamber of Commerce
          Seawright Custom Precast, Inc.

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office,  
          this bill is intended to encourage job creation and  
          economic recovery by requiring DGS to use an additional  
          criterion in the contract bidding and procurement process  
          that takes into consideration the relative economic benefit  
          to California in considering bids for goods and/or  
          services.

          The author's office contends that "publicly contracted  
          business that creates or maintains California jobs and/or  
          uses California products will generate state and local  
          revenue through the income, sales, and property taxes.  The  
          additional DGS criterion would factor in this additional  
          benefit of conducting business in this state.  Since the  
          cost of doing business in California can be higher than  
          outside the state, it is possible with this criterion that  
          a higher bidder demonstrating the creation of California  
          jobs and/or use of California products could be chosen over  
          a lower bidder that uses out-of-state jobs and products.   
          However, the true value of the contract may not be  
          reflected if such public revenue benefits are not  
          considered in the cost of the contract."

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    Opponents contend that this  
          bill does not provide sufficient safeguards so that the  
          taxpaying public has confidence the method does not result  
          in procurement fraud, undue influence, and favoritism in  
          the selection of contractors.  Opponents believe that this  
          will cause firms to make unsustainably low bids in order to  
          win a contract.  Opponents believe that placing best value  
          factors into the procurement process will encourage bidders  
          to try and downplay the substantive weaknesses of their  
          products and services by playing up factors that have no  
          actual impact on the quality of the final product.   
          Opponents conclude that this bill will place small  







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          contractors at a competitive disadvantage, as they will not  
          be able to provide the higher wage levels that larger  
          companies do in order to receive favorable consideration  
          under a "best value" system.  
           

          TSM:nl  5/28/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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