SENATE BILL 214

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

Vernon D. Asbill

FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CAPITAL OUTLAY OVERSIGHT TASK FORCE

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC PROCUREMENT; CLARIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH A BEST AND FINAL OFFER PRICE MAY BE NEGOTIATED.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. A new section of the Procurement Code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] COMPETITIVE SEALED PROPOSALS--RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE OF PROPOSALS--NEGOTIATIONS.--

          A. Proposals shall be unconditionally accepted for consideration for award without alteration or correction, except as authorized in the Procurement Code. In addition to the requirement for the prime contractor and subcontractors to be registered with the division as provided in Section

13-4-13.1 NMSA 1978, proposals shall be evaluated based on the requirements set forth in the request for proposals, which requirements may include criteria to determine acceptability such as inspection, testing, quality, workmanship, delivery and suitability for a particular purpose. Those criteria such as discounts, transportation costs and total or life-cycle costs that will affect the bid price shall be objectively measurable, which shall be defined by rule. The request for proposals shall set forth the evaluation criteria to be used. No criteria shall be used in the proposal evaluation that are not set forth in the request for proposals. A proposal submitted by a prime contractor that was not registered as required by Section 13-4-13.1 NMSA 1978 shall not be considered for award. A proposal submitted by a registered prime contractor that includes any subcontractor that is not registered in accordance with that section may be considered for award following substitution of a registered subcontractor for any unregistered subcontractor in accordance with Section 13-4-36 NMSA 1978.

          B. If the highest ranked offeror has otherwise qualified, and if there is no change in the original terms and conditions, the highest ranked offeror may negotiate with the purchaser for a lower total price in order to avoid rejection of all proposals for the reason that the lowest price was up to ten percent higher than budgeted project funds. Such negotiation shall not be allowed if the price in the highest ranked proposal was more than ten percent over budgeted project funds."