Bill Text: NY S07362 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Allows a city with a population of one million inhabitants or more, or any district, board or agency with jurisdiction exclusively within such city, to authorize or require bids and offers for any contract to be submitted in an electronic format; provides such city, district, board or agency may conduct a public opening and reading of bids or identification of offerers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-11-17 - SIGNED CHAP.668 [S07362 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S07362-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7362--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 19, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. COONEY, PARKER -- (at request of the NYC Mayor's Office of Contract Services) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Procurement and Contracts -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to electronic bidding The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 103 of the general municipal law, 2 as amended by section 1 of chapter 2 of the laws of 2012, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 1. Except as otherwise expressly provided by an act of the legislature 5 or by a local law adopted prior to September first, nineteen hundred 6 fifty-three, all contracts for public work involving an expenditure of 7 more than thirty-five thousand dollars and all purchase contracts 8 involving an expenditure of more than twenty thousand dollars, shall be 9 awarded by the appropriate officer, board or agency of a political 10 subdivision or of any district therein including but not limited to a 11 soil conservation district to the lowest responsible bidder furnishing 12 the required security after advertisement for sealed bids in the manner 13 provided by this section, provided, however, that purchase contracts 14 (including contracts for service work, but excluding any purchase 15 contracts necessary for the completion of a public works contract pursu- 16 ant to article eight of the labor law) may be awarded on the basis of 17 best value, as defined in section one hundred sixty-three of the state 18 finance law, to a responsive and responsible bidder or offerer in the 19 manner provided by this section except that in a political subdivision 20 other than a city with a population of one million inhabitants or more 21 or any district, board or agency with jurisdiction exclusively therein 22 the use of best value for awarding a purchase contract or purchase EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11218-05-3S. 7362--A 2 1 contracts must be authorized by local law or, in the case of a district 2 corporation, school district or board of cooperative educational 3 services, by rule, regulation or resolution adopted at a public meeting. 4 In any case where a responsible bidder's or responsible offerer's gross 5 price is reducible by an allowance for the value of used machinery, 6 equipment, apparatus or tools to be traded in by a political subdivi- 7 sion, the gross price shall be reduced by the amount of such allowance, 8 for the purpose of determining the best value. In cases where two or 9 more responsible bidders furnishing the required security submit identi- 10 cal bids as to price, such officer, board or agency may award the 11 contract to any of such bidders. Such officer, board or agency may, in 12 his or her or its discretion, reject all bids or offers and readvertise 13 for new bids or offers in the manner provided by this section. In deter- 14 mining whether a purchase is an expenditure within the discretionary 15 threshold amounts established by this subdivision, the officer, board or 16 agency of a political subdivision or of any district therein shall 17 consider the reasonably expected aggregate amount of all purchases of 18 the same commodities, services or technology to be made within the 19 twelve-month period commencing on the date of purchase. Purchases of 20 commodities, services or technology shall not be artificially divided 21 for the purpose of satisfying the discretionary buying thresholds estab- 22 lished by this subdivision. A change to or a renewal of a discretionary 23 purchase shall not be permitted if the change or renewal would bring the 24 reasonably expected aggregate amount of all purchases of the same 25 commodities, services or technology from the same provider within the 26 twelve-month period commencing on the date of the first purchase to an 27 amount greater than the discretionary buying threshold amount. For 28 purposes of this section, "sealed bids" and "sealed offers", as that 29 term applies to purchase contracts, (including contracts for service 30 work, but excluding any purchase contracts necessary for the completion 31 of a public works contract pursuant to article eight of the labor law) 32 shall include bids and offers submitted in an electronic format includ- 33 ing submission of the statement of non-collusion required by section one 34 hundred three-d of this article, provided that the governing board of 35 the political subdivision or district, by resolution, has authorized the 36 receipt of bids and offers in such format. Submission in electronic 37 format may, for technology contracts only, be required as the sole meth- 38 od for the submission of bids and offers. Provided however, the appro- 39 priate officer, board or agency of a city with a population of one 40 million inhabitants or more, or any district, board or agency with 41 jurisdiction exclusively within such city, may authorize or require bids 42 and offers for any contract to be submitted in an electronic format. 43 Bids and offers submitted in an electronic format shall be transmitted 44 by bidders and offerers to the receiving device designated by the poli- 45 tical subdivision or district. Any method used to receive electronic 46 bids and offers shall comply with article three of the state technology 47 law, and any rules and regulations promulgated and guidelines developed 48 thereunder and, at a minimum, must (a) document the time and date of 49 receipt of each bid and offer received electronically; (b) authenticate 50 the identity of the sender; (c) ensure the security of the information 51 transmitted; and (d) ensure the confidentiality of the bid or offer 52 until the time and date established for the opening of bids or offers. 53 The timely submission of an electronic bid or offer in compliance with 54 instructions provided for such submission in the advertisement for bids 55 or offers and/or the specifications shall be the responsibility solely 56 of each bidder or offerer or prospective bidder or offerer. No politicalS. 7362--A 3 1 subdivision or district therein shall incur any liability from delays of 2 or interruptions in the receiving device designated for the submission 3 and receipt of electronic bids and offers. 4 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 103 of the general municipal law, as 5 amended by section 1 of chapter 367 of the laws of 2014, is amended to 6 read as follows: 7 2. Advertisement for bids and offers shall be published in the offi- 8 cial newspaper or newspapers, if any, or otherwise in a newspaper or 9 newspapers designated for such purpose and may be published in the 10 procurement opportunities newsletter pursuant to article four-C of the 11 economic development law. Such advertisement shall contain a statement 12 of the time when and place where all bids received pursuant to such 13 notice will be publicly opened and read and where the identity of all 14 offerers will be publicly disclosed, and the designation of the receiv- 15 ing device if the political subdivision or district has authorized the 16 receipt of bids and offers in an electronic format. Such board or agency 17 may by resolution designate any officer or employee to open the bids and 18 offers at the time and place specified in the notice. Such designee 19 shall make a record of such bids and offers in such form and detail as 20 the board or agency shall prescribe and present the same at the next 21 regular or special meeting of such board or agency. All bids received 22 shall be publicly opened and read at the time and place so specified and 23 the identity of all offerers shall be publicly disclosed at the time and 24 place so specified. Provided, however, the appropriate officer, board or 25 agency of a city with a population of one million inhabitants or more, 26 or any district, board or agency with jurisdiction exclusively within 27 such city, may conduct a public opening, reading and identification by 28 means of livestreaming on a publicly accessible website listed in the 29 advertisement at a time and date specified in such advertisement, and 30 post a record of such bids or offers and any other required information 31 on a website maintained or controlled by such district, officer, board 32 or agency on such date within five days. At least five days shall elapse 33 between the first publication of such advertisement and the date so 34 specified for the opening and reading of bids and offers. 35 § 3. This act shall take effect March 1, 2024; provided, however, that 36 if the chapter of the laws of 2023 amending part X of chapter 62 of the 37 laws of 2003 amending the general business law and other laws generally 38 relating to implementing the state fiscal plan for the 2003-2004 state 39 fiscal year, relating to extending certain provisions of the general 40 municipal law and the local finance law relating to electronic bidding, 41 as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 7363-A and A. 7445, shall 42 not have taken effect on or before such date then sections one and two 43 of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as 44 such chapter of the laws of 2023, takes effect; and provided, further, 45 that: 46 (a) the amendments to subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 103 of the 47 general municipal law made by sections one and two of this act shall not 48 apply to any solicitation released prior to the date upon which this act 49 takes effect; and 50 (b) the amendments to subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 103 of the 51 general municipal law made by sections one and two of this act shall not 52 affect the expiration and reversion of such subdivisions as provided in 53 subdivision (a) of section 41 of part X of chapter 62 of the laws of 54 2003, as amended, and shall expire and be deemed repealed therewith.