Bill Text: NJ A2202 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits establishment of county-wide purchasing system by a county employing qualified purchasing agent and requires participation by all school districts within the county.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4)
Status: (Failed) 2012-05-10 - Withdrawn from Consideration [A2202 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A2202-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JASON O'DONNELL
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Permits establishment of county-wide purchasing system by a county employing qualified purchasing agent and requires participation by all school districts within the county.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning county consolidated purchasing programs, amending P.L.2007, c.63, and supplementing N.J.S.18A:18A-1 et seq.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. A local unit that is a county and that employs a qualified purchasing agent may adopt a resolution or ordinance, as the case may be in accordance with its form of government, establishing a county-wide purchasing system for providing custodial services, food services, or both to school districts within the county.
b. Specifically, in order to take advantage of economies of scales and administrative efficiencies in the purchase of services, a county may mandate that the qualified county purchasing agent award a single County Wide Contract for custodial services, food services, or both, to school districts within the county which use a private vendor to provide the good or service at issue.
c. (1) The county clerk of a county that establishes a county-wide purchasing system pursuant to subsections a. and b. of this section shall notify all of the school districts located within the county within 20 days of final adoption of the resolution or ordinance, as appropriate.
(2) A county that establishes a County Wide Contract pursuant to subsections a. and b. of this section shall appoint an advisory committee consisting of one representative from each school district that is subject to the County Wide Contract.
(3) A qualified purchasing agent of a county that establishes a county-wide purchasing system pursuant to subsections a. and b. of this section shall create and maintain a webpage on the county Internet website listing the services for which the county has entered into a County Wide Contract.
(4) The qualified county purchasing agent shall award County Wide Contracts based on a best value at the lowest cost acquisition policy. The qualified purchasing agent of the county shall specify in the bidding document for a service that the low bid may be determined on a best value at the lowest cost acquisition policy and shall set forth the provisions of the policy in detail in the bidding document.
(4) Prior to awarding any contract, the qualified county purchasing agent shall disclose the terms of all contracts pending final approval on the county's Internet website at least 20 days prior to the final approval of the contract.
(5) Notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, the bidding documents prepared by the county for County Wide Contracts shall specify that the vendor who is awarded the County Wide Contract will be required to pay to the county a specified fee to cover the administrative costs associated with administering the County Wide Contract.
(6) Prior to awarding any contract, the qualified county purchasing agent shall disclose the terms of all contracts, pending final approval, on the county's Internet website at least 20 days prior to the final approval of the contract.
(7) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a school district seeking a service subject to a County Wide Contract shall acquire the service through that County Wide Contract. Any school district bid document or contract for a service that is eligible to be acquired through a County Wide Contract shall be beyond the authority of the school district to advertise or award, and shall be void from its inception.
(8) The qualified county purchasing agent may establish a set aside program for small and women-owned businesses pursuant to N.J.S.18A:18A-51 et seq. for the provision of county-wide services.
d. For the purposes of this section:
"Best value at the lowest cost acquisition policy" means a competitive procurement policy whereby the award of a contract for services may take into consideration any of the following factors:
(1) The total cost to the school district of its use or consumption of services;
(2) The operational cost or benefit incurred by the school district as a result of the contract award;
(3) The value to the school district of vendor-added services;
(4) The quality, effectiveness, and innovation of supplies, materials, and services;
(5) The reliability of delivery or installation schedules;
(6) The terms and conditions of product warranties and vendor guarantees;
(7) The financial stability of the vendor;
(8) The vendor's quality assurance program;
(9) The vendor's experience with the provision of similar supplies, materials, and services;
(10) The consistency of the vendor's proposed supplies, materials, and services with the county's overall supplies and materials procurement program;
(11) The vendor's use of water provided by public or nonpublic water systems that meet the requirements of the "Safe Drinking Water Act," P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et seq.); and
(12) The economic benefits to the general community related to job creation or retention.
e. The best value at the lowest cost acquisition policy adopted pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection b. of this section shall include the following:
(1) Price and service level proposals that reduce the school district's overall operating costs;
(2) Compliance with applicable laws, including safety, environmental and labor standards;
(3) Adequate training programs and licensing for employees performing under the contract;
(4) Supplies and materials standards that support the county's strategic supplies and materials acquisition and management program direction; and
(5) A procedure for protest and resolution.
f. Nothing in this section shall require the privatization of a position currently filled by a public employee.
g. Any administrative personnel who lose their jobs due to implementation of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall receive terminal leave pay, as set forth in paragraph (2) of subsection a. of section 19 of the "Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act," P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-19).
2. Section 54 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.18A:7-12) is amended to read as follows:
54. a. A local school district may apply to the executive county superintendent of schools to have school district services including, but not limited to, transportation, personnel, purchasing, payroll, and accounting, assumed by the office of the superintendent. If the executive county superintendent determines to assume a service, a fee may be assessed the school district for the service. The executive county superintendent of schools may utilize county special services school districts, jointure commissions, and educational services commissions to provide services to local school boards.
b. When the county governing body in which the school district is located, has adopted a resolution or ordinance, as the case may be, pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) to consolidate the purchasing of food or custodial services within the county, the office of the executive county superintendent and every local school district shall be required to participate in the county program.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.63, s.54)
3. (New section) a. The intent of this section is to provide protection for employees who are satisfactorily performing their duties during the transition to employment by a successor contractor and to prevent favoritism in employment decisions during such transition to ensure the highest quality of services to school districts.
b. For the purposes of this section:
"Successor contractor" means a contractor that has been awarded a food or custodial service contract to provide services that, in whole or in part, are substantially similar to those food or custodial services provided by a predecessor employer within the previous 90 days.
"Predecessor contractor" means a contractor which provided food or custodial services to a school district and which ceases to provide such services.
"Service employee" means an employee of a contractor employed on or around school district premises and central kitchens to provide food or custodial services, except for managerial, executive, confidential employees and employees who work less than four hours a week.
c. A school district for which a successor contractor will provide food or custodial services shall:
(1) obtain from the predecessor contractor and provide to the successor contractor, a full and accurate list containing the name, address, date of hire, and employment classification of each service employee employed by the predecessor contractor within 15 calendar days before the termination of any service contract;
(2) notify the collective bargaining representative of the affected service employees, if any, of the successor employer and provide to the collective bargaining representative a copy of the list of service employees prepared pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection; and
(3) ensure that a notice is conspicuously posted at any site at which service employees perform their duties, setting forth the rights provided under this section in the same location and manner that other statutorily required notices to employees are posted.
d. The successor contractor shall:
(1) offer employment during a 90-day transition employment period to all service employees employed by the predecessor contractor;
(2) not discharge, without just cause, an employee retained in accordance with this section during the 90-day transition period; and
(3) perform a written performance evaluation for each employee retained in accordance with this section at the end of the 90-day transition period and offer those employees whose performance was satisfactory, continued employment under the terms and conditions of employment established by the successor employer or as required by law.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill is intended to promote the concept of shared and consolidated services through the use of county-wide contracts in order to reduce school district costs by taking advantage of economies of scales and administrative efficiencies when dealing with private vendors for food and custodial services.
When a county that employs a qualified purchasing agent establishes a county-wide purchasing system, its clerk is required to notify all of the school districts within that county. The county's qualified purchasing agent would maintain a webpage on the county's Internet website listing the services for which the county has entered into a County Wide Contract. These contracts would be awarded to vendors on the basis of a best value at the lowest cost acquisition policy, which shall be set forth in detail in the bidding documents. School districts located within the county that contract for food or custodial services would be required to purchase through a County Wide Contract for a particular custodial or food service, if such contract exists.
As part of the county-wide purchasing system, the qualified county purchasing agent could establish a set aside program for small and women-owned businesses pursuant to N.J.S.A.18A:18A-51 et seq. for the provision of county-wide services. The bill contains technical requirements for a "best value at the lowest cost acquisition policy," along with mandatory provisions. The bill also makes clear that a county-wide purchasing system is not intended to require the privatization of any position currently filled by a public employee, but that any administrator who loses their job due to a county-wide purchasing system will receive terminal leave pay pursuant to N.J.S.A.40A:65-19 of the "Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act."
