Provides for the establishment of a method for determining the lowest responsible bidder when negotiating state contracts that would incorporate quantifiable fiscal benefits.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A995
SPONSOR: Angelino TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing a
method for determining the lowest responsible bidder when negotiating
state contracts
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Provides for the establishment of a method for determining the lowest
responsible bidder when negotiating state contracts
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Article 9 of the state finance law is amended by adding a new
section 134 the Declaration Policy.
Section 2 the finance law is amended by adding a new section 136-e
Section 3 effective date
JUSTIFICATION:
This legislation would.declare that the policy of the state, when nego-
tiating contracts for public works and public contracts to which it is a
party, is to assure the prudent and economical use of public moneys.
This legislation further declares that the state recognizes that the
lowest responsible bid for contracts with the state should incorporate
quantifiable fiscal benefits to the state and that these quantifiable
fiscal benefits to the state should be subtracted from the actual bid
amount to determine the lowest responsible bidder. It is the opinion of
the sponsor that it is our fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of
New York State to determine the true net cost.
By requiring the comptroller to establish a method to determine the
lowest responsible bid by incorporating consideration of ancillary bene-
fits to the state when awarding contracts, an assessment of benefits to
the state would be included to determine the lowest responsible bidder.
In Kirkwood, New York, a contractor lost a bid for manufacturing high-
pressure laminate panels for the state to a Michigan manufacturer. The
bid was lost by 2 percent ($40,000). However, not considered were the
facts that the New York manufacturer would have bought one million
dollars' worth of laminate from a Syracuse distributor, four hundred
thousand dollars of particle board would have been purchased in New
York, thirty-four thousand dollars of glue would have been purchased
from a Rochester distributor, forty-two thousand dollars in trucking
costs would have gone to a Conklin, a New York firm, and four new jobs
would have been created at the unsuccessful bidder's manufacturing
facility. Had these and other ancillary benefits to the state been
considered, the lowest responsible bid would have been more accurately
assessed and, in keeping with the declared policy of the state, the
prudent and economical use of public moneys would have been assured.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
This legislation would result in savings to the state, increased revenue
to the state, and the creation of tax revenue producing jobs.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
