MN SF2518

For calendar year 2015, the commissioner may extend a demonstration provider's contract for a sixth year and certain procurement restrictions do not apply.

For calendar year 2016 and beyond, statewide procurement includes all 87 counties and must solicit individual county input, organize counties into regional groups, and consider single counties for the largest and most diverse counties.

Counties implementing county-based purchasing plans are excluded from statewide procurements after 2016 and instead follow separate procurement requirements occurring every five years or upon county request.

County or group of counties with county-based purchasing plans are defined as distinct geographic regions for procurement purposes, with technical specifications specific to the service area and priority on regional initiatives.

Requests for proposals must require price bids but price cannot be considered in evaluation criteria unless the county or group of counties requests otherwise, and the county-based purchasing plan shall be the single or default plan when federal regulations permit.