NJ S296

State Treasurer, working with the State Comptroller, must adopt rules and regulations establishing best practices for contracts awarded by independent State authorities in New Jersey.

Required procurement practices include maximizing the pool of prospective bidders, using predetermined merit-based evaluation criteria disclosed in advance, and establishing qualified evaluation committees screened for conflicts of interest.

All steps in the evaluation process must be documented, including scoring sheets, negotiation records, comparative analyses, and written award recommendations explaining why the winning vendor was selected.

Exemptions apply for contracts below the state threshold amount, life/safety/health emergencies, sole-source situations, contracts with government entities, innovative vendor proposals, and cases with written authorization from the Governor's Authorities Unit.

The State Treasurer and State Comptroller must review and update the regulations at least every two years to ensure current best practices are followed.