GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	3 

SENATE BILL 132
Government Performance Audit Select Committee Substitute Adopted 4/1/93
Third Edition Engrossed 5/13/93

Short Title:  Minority Business Coordinator.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  Appropriations.
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February 15, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO IMPLEMENT A RECOMMENDATION OF THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE AUDIT COMMITTEE REGARDING PURCHASING AND CONTRACTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
–-MINORITY BUSINESS COORDINATOR.
Section 1.  (a) G.S. 143-49 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143-49.  Powers and duties of Secretary.
The Secretary of Administration shall have power and authority, and it shall be his duty, subject to the provisions of this Article:
(1)	To canvass sources of supply, and to purchase or to contract for the purchase, lease and lease-purchase of all supplies, materials, equipment and other tangible personal property required by the State government, or any of its departments, institutions or agencies under competitive bidding or otherwise as hereinafter provided.
(2)	To establish and enforce specifications which shall apply to all supplies, materials and equipment to be purchased or leased for the use of the State government or any of its departments, institutions or agencies.
(3)	To purchase or to contract for, by sealed, competitive bidding or other suitable means, all contractual services and needs of the State government, or any of its departments, institutions, or agencies; or to authorize any department, institution or agency to purchase or contract for such services.
		When the award of any contract for contractual services exceeding a cost of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) requires negotiation with prospective contractors, the Secretary shall request and the Attorney General shall assign a representative of the office of the Attorney General to assist in negotiation for the award of the contract. It shall be the duty of such representative to assist and advise in obtaining the most favorable contract for the State, to evaluate all proposals available from prospective contractors for that purpose, to interpret proposed contract terms and to advise the Secretary or his representatives of the liabilities of the State and validity of the contract to be awarded. All contracts and drafts of such contracts shall be prepared by the office of the Attorney General and copies thereof shall be retained by such office for a period of three years following the termination of such contracts. The term 'contractual services' as used in this subsection shall mean work performed by an independent contractor requiring specialized knowledge, experience, expertise or similar capabilities wherein the service rendered does not consist primarily of acquisition by this State of equipment or materials and the rental of equipment, materials and supplies. The term 'negotiation' as used herein shall not be deemed to refer to contracts entered into or to be entered into as a result of a competitive bidding process.
(4)	To have general supervision of all storerooms and stores operated by the State government, or any of its departments, institutions or agencies and to have supervision of inventories of all tangible personal property belonging to the State government, or any of its departments, institutions or agencies. The duties imposed by this subdivision shall not relieve any department, institution or agency of the State government from accountability for equipment, materials, supplies and tangible personal property under its control.
(5)	To make provision for or to contract for all State printing, including all printing, binding, paper stock and supplies or materials in connection with the same.
(6)	To make available to nonprofit corporations operating charitable hospitals, to local nonprofit community sheltered workshops or centers that meet standards established by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Human Resources, to private nonprofit agencies licensed or approved by the Department of Human Resources as child placing agencies or residential child-care facilities, and to counties, cities, towns, governmental entities and other subdivisions of the State and public agencies thereof in the expenditure of public funds, the services of the Department of Administration in the purchase of materials, supplies and equipment under such rules, regulations and procedures as the Secretary of Administration may adopt. In adopting rules and regulations any or all provisions of this Article may be made applicable to such purchases and contracts made through the Department of Administration, and in addition the rules and regulations shall contain a requirement that payment for all such purchases be made in accordance with the terms of the contract. Prior to adopting rules and regulations under this subdivision, the Secretary of Administration may consult with the Advisory Budget Commission.
(7)	To designate an employee of the Purchase and Contract Division to serve as a coordinator for the conduct of outreach programs designed to encourage participation by small, minority, physically handicapped, and women contractors in State purchasing of goods and services.  The minority business coordinator shall:
a.	Conduct vendor fairs and seminars and prepare information packets that provide such businesses with instructions on doing business with the State; and
b.	Coordinate with the Small Business Administration and the Minority Business Development Administration to facilitate participation by such businesses."
(b)	This section is effective upon ratification.
–-ANNUAL FINANCIAL MODEL REQUIRED.
Sec. 2. (a)	G.S. 143-15.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143-15.1.   Current Operations Appropriations Act.
The General Assembly shall enact the Current Operations Appropriations Act by June 15 of odd-numbered years and by June 30 of even-numbered years in which a Current Operations Appropriations Act is enacted.  The Current Operations Appropriations Act shall state the amount of General Fund appropriations availability upon which the General Fund budget is based.  The statement of availability shall list separately the beginning General Fund credit balance, General Fund revenues, and any other components of the availability amount.
The Current Operations Appropriations Act shall incorporate by reference the General Fund Financial Model.  The General Assembly shall set out with the financial model the assumptions of the model and the impact over five years on the budget that is anticipated by the model.
The General Fund operating budget appropriations, including appropriations for local tax reimbursements and local tax sharing, for the second year in a Current Operations Appropriations Act that contains a biennial budget shall not be more than two percent (2%) greater than the General Fund operating budget appropriations for the first year of the biennial budget."
(b)	This section is effective upon ratification.
–-IMPROVE STATE TERM CONTRACTS.
Sec. 3. (a) G.S. 143-53 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143-53.  Rules.
The Secretary of Administration may adopt rules governing the following:
(1)	Prescribing the routine and procedures to be followed in canvassing bids and awarding contracts, and for reviewing decisions made pursuant thereto, and the decision of the reviewing body shall be the final administrative review.
(2)	Prescribing routine for securing bids on items that do not exceed the bid value benchmark established under the provisions of G.S. 143-53.1.
(2a)	Prescribing, in consultation with affected agencies, conditions and procedures by which agencies are authorized to purchase comodities off of term contracts and pertaining to dollar limits and threashholds for volume purchases.  In developing such procedures, consideration shall be given to the following:
a.	purchase price,
b.	availability on a continuing basis,
c.	availability and cost of appropriate service and maintenance,
d.	convenience of agencies,
e.	stability of the State purchasing and contracting process, and
f.	means of reporting the impact of such procedures to the Secretary and the General Assembly.
(3)	Defining contractual services for the purposes of G.S. 143-49 (3).
(4)	Prescribing items and quantities, and conditions and procedures, governing the acquisition of goods and services which may be delegated to departments, institutions and agencies, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Article.
(5)	Prescribing conditions under which purchases and contracts for the purchase, rental or lease of equipment, materials, supplies or services may be entered into by means other than competitive bidding.
(6)	Prescribing conditions under which partial, progressive and multiple awards may be made.
(7)	Prescribing conditions and procedures governing the purchase of used equipment, materials and supplies.
(8)	Providing conditions under which bids may be rejected in whole or in part.
(9)	Prescribing conditions under which information submitted by bidders or suppliers may be considered proprietary or confidential.
(10)	Prescribing procedures for making purchases under programs involving participation by two or more levels or agencies of government, or otherwise with funds other than State-appropriated.
(11)	Prescribing procedures to encourage the purchase of North Carolina farm products, and products of North Carolina manufacturing enterprises.
(12)	Repealed by Session Laws 1987, c. 827, s. 216.
The purpose of rules promulgated hereunder shall be to promote sound purchasing management.
Prior to adopting rules under this section, the Secretary of Administration may consult with the Advisory Budget Commission."
(b)	This section is effective upon ratification and shall expire June 30, 1995.
–-COMBINE NC/US SURPLUS PROPERTY.
Sec. 5.  (a) The Department of Administration shall study the feasibility of consolidating the property units of the State Surplus Property Section and the Federal Surplus Property Section at a suitable site.  In the course of the study the Department shall consider enhanced service the consolidation would provide to customers, the funds that the State would realize from the sale of the State facility, annual savings that would result from decreased staffing required by a consolidated facility, and the feasibility and cost of constructing sufficient additional space at a suitable facility to house a consolidated facility.
The Department shall report to the General Assembly on the results of this study before March 15, 1994.
(b) This section is effective upon ratification.