WEST virginia Legislature
2016 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 620
By Senators Hall, Plymale, Unger and Prezioso
[Introduced February
17, 2016;
Referred to the Committee on Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5A-3-1 and §5A-3-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to exempting the State Police from Purchasing Division requirements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5A-3-1 and §5A-3-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. PURCHASING DIVISION.
§5A-3-1. Division created; purpose; director; applicability of article; continuation.
(a) The Purchasing Division within the Department of Administration is continued. The underlying purposes and policies of the Purchasing Division are:
(1) To establish centralized offices to provide purchasing and travel services to the various state agencies;
(2) To simplify, clarify and modernize the law governing procurement by this state;
(3) To permit the continued development of procurement policies and practices;
(4) To make as consistent as possible the procurement rules and practices among the various spending units;
(5) To provide for increased public confidence in the procedures followed in public procurement;
(6) To ensure the fair and equitable treatment of all persons who deal with the procurement system of this state;
(7) To provide increased economy in procurement activities and to maximize to the fullest extent practicable the purchasing value of public funds;
(8) To foster effective broad-based competition within the free enterprise system;
(9) To provide safeguards for the maintenance of a procurement system of quality and integrity; and
(10) To obtain in a cost-effective and responsive manner the commodities and services required by spending units in order for those spending units to better serve this state=s businesses and residents.
(b) The Director of the Purchasing Division shall, at the time of appointment:
(1) Be a graduate of an accredited college or university; and
(2) Have spent a minimum of ten of the fifteen years immediately preceding his or her appointment employed in an executive capacity in purchasing for any unit of government or for any business, commercial or industrial enterprise.
(c) The provisions of this article apply to all of the spending units of state government, except as otherwise provided by this article or by law.
(d) The provisions of this
article do not apply to the judicial branch, the West Virginia State Police, Forensics
Laboratory the West Virginia Office of Laboratory Services, the legislative
branch, to purchases of stock made by the Alcohol Beverage Control Commissioner
and to purchases of textbooks, instructional materials, digital content
resources, instructional technology, hardware, software, telecommunications and
technical services by the State Board of Education for use in and in support of
the public schools.
(e) The provisions of this article apply to every expenditure of public funds by a spending unit for commodities and services irrespective of the source of the funds.
§5A-3-3. Powers and duties of Director of Purchasing.
The director, under the
direction and supervision of the secretary, shall be is the
executive officer of the Purchasing Division and shall: have the power and
duty to
(1) Direct the activities and employees of the Purchasing Division;
(2) Ensure that the
purchase of or contract for commodities and services shall be are
based, whenever possible, on competitive bid;
(3) Purchase or contract for, in the name of the state, the commodities, services and printing required by the spending units of the state government;
(4) Apply and enforce
standard specifications established in accordance with section five of this
article; as hereinafter provided
(5) Transfer to or between
spending units or sell commodities that are surplus, obsolete or unused as hereinafter
provided in this article;
(6) Have charge of central
storerooms for the supply of spending units, as the director deems considers
advisable;
(7) Establish and maintain
a laboratory for the testing of commodities and make use of existing facilities
in state institutions for that purpose as hereinafter provided in
this article; as the director deems considers advisable;
(8) Suspend the right and
privilege of a vendor to bid on state purchases when the director has evidence
that such the vendor has violated any of the provisions of the
purchasing law or the rules and regulations of the director;
(9) Examine the provisions
and terms of every contract entered into for and on behalf of the State of West
Virginia that impose any obligation upon the state to pay any sums of money for
commodities or services and approve each such contract as to such the
provisions and terms; and the duty of examination and approval herein set
forth does not supersede the responsibility and duty of the Attorney
General to approve such the contracts as to form: Provided,
That the provisions of this subdivision do not apply in any respect whatever to
construction or repair contracts entered into by the Division of Highways of
the Department of Transportation: Provided, however, That the provisions
of this subdivision do not apply in any respect whatever to contracts entered
into by the University of West Virginia Board of Trustees or by the Board of
Directors of the State College System, except to the extent that such boards
request the facilities and services of the director under the provisions of
this subdivision: Provided further, That the provisions of this
subdivision do not apply to the West Virginia State Police Forensic
Laboratory and the West Virginia Office of Laboratory Services;
(10) Assure Ensure
that the specifications and descriptions in all solicitations are prepared so
as to provide all potential suppliers-vendors who can meet the requirements of
the state an opportunity to bid and to assure ensure that the
specifications and descriptions do not favor a particular brand or vendor. If
the director determines that any such specifications or descriptions as written
favor a particular brand or vendor or if it is decided, either before or after
the bids are opened, that a commodity or service having different
specifications or quality or in different quantity can be bought, the director
may rewrite the solicitation and the matter shall be rebid; and
(11) Issue a notice to
cease and desist to a spending unit when the director has credible evidence
that a spending unit has violated competitive bidding or other requirements
established by this article and the rules promulgated hereunder under
this article. Failure to abide by such the notice may result
in penalties set forth in section seventeen of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt the State Police from Purchasing Division requirements.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.