Senate Bill No. 677
(By Senators Snyder, Craigo, Unger,
Kessler, Bailey and Edgell)
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[Introduced February 22, 1999; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article three, chapter five-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto two new sections, designated sections
fifty-five and fifty-five-a, all relating to intrastate air
transportation services for state employees, legislators,
members of various state boards and commissions and members
of the general public; directing the solicitation of bids to
provide the same; outlining minimum bid specifications;
authorizing the limited underwriting of the cost of the
same; and making certain findings in relation thereto.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter five-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto two new sections, designated sections
fifty-five and fifty-five-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. PURCHASING DIVISION.
§5A-3-55. Legislative findings.
The Legislature hereby finds that the absence of regularly
scheduled intrastate commercial passenger air service in the
state inhibits participation on state boards and commissions by
citizens living in distant areas of the state; results in the
loss of productivity by state employees and legislators traveling
to and from distant communities; and hampers economic
development. The Legislature further finds that it would well
serve the state's interests to partially underwrite the cost of
providing air service by soliciting competitive bids from
responsible bidders in the private sector to provide air service
to the state.
§5A-3-55a. Director to solicit competitive bids to provide
partially underwritten intrastate passenger air
service at the lowest underwriting costs.
(a) The director may exercise the authority provided in this
article to solicit, from responsible bidders, bids to provide, for a twelve-month period, partially underwritten, reliable,
regularly scheduled public passenger air service to state
employees, legislators, members of various state boards and
commissions, and members of the general public between and among
communities in the state.
(b) To be eligible to respond to the solicitation, a bidder
shall offer to provide at a minimum: (1) Round trip prices per
passenger which do not exceed three hundred dollars; (2) a flight
departure and arrival schedule which is determined by the
director to be efficient and appropriate to achieve optimum
cost-benefit in light of the official duties, responsibilities
and work schedules of the passengers using the service; (3)
aircraft which seats at least six passengers, and which meets
other safety and comfort specifications determined by the
director; and (4) other requirements and specifications
determined by the director.
(c) At the conclusion of the bidding process, the director
may, pursuant to the procedures provided in this article, award
a contract to the lowest bidder, taking into consideration the
qualities of the articles to be supplied, their conformity to the
specifications, their suitability to the requirements of government and the delivery terms. Any or all bids may be
rejected. The director may accept a bid and enter into a
contract in which the guarantee amount shall not exceed the
amount that the Legislature shall appropriate to the director for
the air service for that fiscal year:
Provided, That the
contract shall provide that the administration of the air service
to be rendered pursuant to the contract shall be in accordance
with the emergency rules as promulgated by the director.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Director
of the Purchasing Division to solicit competitive bids and award
a contract to provide underwritten intrastate air service for
state employees and others.
These sections are new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.