HB1178 Summary

• Requires the State Procurement Director to adopt rules that must be submitted to and reviewed by the Legislative Council's Review Subcommittee before becoming effective.

• Mandates cost be weighted at least 30% in evaluating proposals, unless the State Procurement Director approves a lower percentage in writing and submits it to the Legislative Council or Joint Budget Committee for review.

• Establishes a training and certification program for state procurement personnel, requiring all state employees conducting procurements to be certified by July 1, 2021, with continuing education requirements to maintain certification.

• Creates new procurement procedures including solicitation conferences, vendor training programs, requests for information, and allows use of private evaluators (preferably volunteers) in proposal evaluation.

• Extends bid notice periods from 30 to 90 calendar days and requires notice to include solicitation conference dates and times; permits bid clarifications but prohibits substantive changes to bids.