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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
995
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ANGELINO, DeSTEFANO, LEMONDES, McDONOUGH, MIKU-
LIN, MILLER, MORINELLO -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing a
method for determining the lowest responsible bidder when negotiating
state contracts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Article 9 of the state finance law is amended by adding a
2 new section 134 to read as follows:
3 § 134. Declaration of policy. 1. It is hereby declared to be the poli-
4 cy of this state that this article shall be construed in the negotiation
5 of contracts for public works and public purchases to which the state is
6 a party so as to assure the prudent and economical use of public moneys
7 for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the state and to facilitate
8 the acquisition of facilities and commodities of maximum quality at the
9 lowest possible cost. The state also recognizes that the lowest respon-
10 sible bid for public contracts may not simply be a monetary amount but
11 should also incorporate quantifiable fiscal benefits to the state and
12 that quantifiable fiscal benefits to the state should be subtracted from
13 the actual bid amount to determine the lowest responsible bidder.
14 2. The comptroller shall establish, in consultation with the heads of
15 state agencies, a method for determining the lowest responsible bidder
16 when negotiating state contracts that would incorporate quantifiable
17 fiscal benefits including, but not be limited to, consideration of where
18 sub-contractors used by contractors to fulfill a state contract are
19 located, how many jobs in the state, if any, will be created by the
20 awarding of such a contract, and the estimated tax revenue and ancillary
21 economic activity that would be generated in the state through the
22 awarding of such contracts and subsequent subcontracts. The comptroller
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02658-01-5
A. 995 2
1 shall promulgate rules and regulations to ensure the inclusion of these
2 considerations in determining the lowest responsible bidder for state
3 contracts.
4 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 136-e to
5 read as follows:
6 § 136-e. In-state contractor preference. Notwithstanding any other
7 provision of law to the contrary, any contract or contracts made by the
8 state which requires the submission of a bid shall, when determining the
9 low bid, reduce any bid submitted by an in-state contractor by five
10 percent. For the purposes of this section, an "in-state contractor"
11 shall be a contractor which:
12 1. is located within the state;
13 2. hires a majority of employees who are residents of the state;
14 3. hires subcontractors who are located within the state and whose
15 employees are residents of the state; and
16 4. creates tax revenue and ancillary economic activity for the state.
17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.