House Bill hb1573

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1573

        By Representative Ausley






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the State Council on

  3         Competitive Government; amending s. 14.203,

  4         F.S.; providing definitions; requiring the

  5         council to direct the Office of Program Policy

  6         Analysis and Government Accountability and the

  7         Director of Efficiency and Enterprise

  8         Development of the office of planning and

  9         budgeting in the Executive Office of the

10         Governor to review and report on all requests

11         for proposals, invitations to bid, invitations

12         to negotiate, or contracts issued by state

13         agencies that propose the privatization of

14         funded government; requiring state agencies to

15         submit certain privatization proposals to the

16         council; providing considerations and criteria

17         for review and report; providing circumstances

18         for competition with private sources or other

19         state agency service providers; requiring a

20         contract entered into by an executive branch

21         agency to include a statement of contingent

22         effect; providing for open meetings and

23         records; providing that a vendor must be a

24         domiciled state corporation or have a

25         significant business presence in the state;

26         providing a definition; providing an effective

27         date.

28

29  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1573

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  1         Section 1.  Section 14.203, Florida Statutes, is

  2  amended to read:

  3         14.203  State Council on Competitive Government.--It is

  4  the policy of this state that all state services be performed

  5  in the most effective and efficient manner in order to provide

  6  the best value and services to the citizens of the state. The

  7  state also recognizes that competition among service providers

  8  may improve the quality of services provided, and that

  9  competition, innovation, and creativity among service

10  providers should be encouraged.

11         (1)  For the purposes of this section:

12         (a)  "Commercial activity" means an activity that

13  provides a product or service that is available from a private

14  source.

15         (b)  "Council" means the State Council on Competitive

16  Government.

17         (c)(b)  "Identified state service" means a service

18  provided by the state that is under consideration to determine

19  whether the service may be better provided through competition

20  with private sources.

21         (d)  "Privatization" means the transfer of government

22  functions, assets, agencies, management, products or

23  productive capacity, financing, or service delivery from the

24  government sector to the nongovernment sector.

25         (2)  There is hereby created the State Council on

26  Competitive Government, which shall be composed of the

27  Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Administration Commission

28  as defined in s. 14.202. The council shall, on its own

29  initiative, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and

30  Government Accountability, created pursuant to s. 11.51, or

31  the Commission on Government Accountability to the People,

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1573

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  1  created pursuant to s. 286.30, may identify commercial

  2  activities currently being performed by state agencies to

  3  determine and, if it is determined that such services may be

  4  better provided by requiring competition with private sources

  5  or other state agency service providers, may recommend that a

  6  state agency engage in any process, including competitive

  7  bidding, that creates competition with private sources or

  8  other state agency service providers.

  9         (3)  In performing its duties under this section, the

10  council shall may:

11         (a)  Require each state agency to submit all

12  privatization proposals that cost $100,000 or more to the

13  council for review and approval prior to their issuance.

14         (b)  Direct the Office of Program Policy Analysis and

15  Government Accountability and the Director of Efficiency and

16  Enterprise Development of the office of planning and budgeting

17  in the Executive Office of the Governor to review and report

18  on all requests for proposals, invitations to bid, invitations

19  to negotiate, or contracts issued by state agencies that

20  propose the privatization of funded government services. 

21         (a)  Adopt rules to implement any provision of this

22  section.

23         (b)  Hold public hearings or conduct studies.

24         (c)  Consult with private sources.

25         (d)  Require a state agency to conduct an in-house cost

26  estimate, a management study, or any other hearing, study,

27  review, or cost estimate concerning any aspect of an

28  identified state service.

29         (e)  Develop and require for use by state agencies

30  methods to accurately and fairly estimate and account for the

31  cost of providing an identified state service.

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  1         (f)  Require that an identified state service be

  2  submitted to competitive bidding or another process that

  3  creates competition with private sources or other governmental

  4  entities. In determining whether an identified state service

  5  should be submitted to competitive bidding, The review and

  6  report council shall consider, at a minimum:

  7         1.  Any constitutional and legal implications which may

  8  arise as a result of such action.

  9         2.  The cost of supervising the work of any private

10  contractor.

11         3.  The total cost to the state agency of such state

12  agency's performance of a service, including all indirect

13  costs related to that state agency and costs of such agencies

14  as the Comptroller, the Treasurer, the Attorney General, and

15  other such support agencies to the extent such costs would not

16  be incurred if a contract is awarded. Costs for the current

17  provision of the service shall be considered only when such

18  costs would actually be saved if the contract were awarded to

19  another entity.

20         4.  An analysis of whether the cost of health care

21  benefits, retirement, and workers' compensation insurance for

22  employees of the contractor is reasonable comparable to

23  benefits provided by the state.

24         5.  Whether two or more state agencies provide an

25  essentially similar service to a like population with little

26  or no value added by multiple jurisdictions.

27         6.  Whether the public sector service has been created

28  in response to a short-term need or abuse, and any subsequent

29  actions that have satisfactorily addressed the need or

30  remedied the abuse with sufficient protection to the affected

31  public.

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  1         7.  Whether the program, service, or deployment of

  2  resources exists because of a commitment to job-based tasks

  3  that prove unnecessary in light of alternative

  4  technology-based processes.

  5         8.  Whether market forces can address the program or

  6  service for its satisfactory operation in a nongovernment

  7  context.

  8         9.  Whether the program or service is peripheral to the

  9  core mission of state government regardless of the efficiency

10  of the state agency operation.

11         10.  Whether the service or program provides a subsidy

12  that the general population can obtain from a nongovernment

13  provider without loss of integrity or unreasonable cost.

14         11.  Whether the selected program or service unduly

15  affects economically or geographically disadvantaged segments

16  of the workforce from receiving subsequent employment.

17         12.  Whether the nongovernment provider has made

18  satisfactory provisions to avoid service interruption,

19  provisions for employment by displaced public sector

20  employees, and provisions for maintenance of the quality and

21  accessibility of the contracted service.

22         13.  Whether privatization of the program or service

23  would impair the integrity of the regulatory powers of state

24  government or its sworn enforcement of functions conferred on

25  it by law.

26         14.  Whether the alternative method of providing

27  government services adds value. For the purposes of this

28  section, an alternative method adds value if it achieves one

29  or more government sector objectives with improvement outcomes

30  irrespective of cost; achieves more outcomes within a fixed

31  amount of appropriation; improves accuracy, timeliness, or

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  1  responsiveness by employees on behalf of customers, clients,

  2  or the public; reduces unit costs; or reduces the cost of

  3  sales and general administrative expenses.

  4         (4)  In conducting a review under this section, the

  5  Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government

  6  Accountability may:

  7         (a)  Hold public hearings or conduct studies.

  8         (b)  Consult with private sources.

  9         (c)  Require a state agency to conduct an in-house cost

10  estimate, a management study, or any other hearing, study,

11  review, or cost estimate concerning any aspect of an

12  identified state service.

13         (d)  Develop and require for use by state agencies

14  methods to accurately and fairly estimate and account for the

15  cost of providing an identified state service.

16         (5)  The Director of Efficiency and Enterprise

17  Development of the office of planning and budgeting in the

18  Executive Office of the Governor may adopt rules to implement

19  any provision of this section.

20         (6)  Upon review of the report required under this

21  section, the council may recommend that a state agency engage

22  in any process, including competitive bidding, that creates

23  competition with private sources or other state agency service

24  providers. In making such recommendation, the council may:

25         (a)(g)  Prescribe, in consultation with affected state

26  agencies, the specifications and conditions of purchase

27  procedures that must be followed by a state agency or a

28  private source engaged in competitive bidding to provide an

29  identified state service.

30         (b)(h)  Award a contract to a state agency currently

31  providing the service, another state agency, a private source,

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1573

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  1  or any combination of such entities, if the bidder presents

  2  the best and most reasonable bid, which is not necessarily the

  3  lowest bid. It is intended that consideration be given as to

  4  how to transfer the program back if the bidder is not

  5  successful in carrying out the requirements of the contract.

  6  The bid shall also include an analysis of health care

  7  benefits, retirement, and workers' compensation insurance for

  8  employees of the contractor which are reasonably comparable to

  9  those provided by the state.

10         (c)(i)  Determine the terms and conditions of a

11  contract for service or interagency contract to provide an

12  identified state service or other commercial activity. Such

13  terms and conditions may include the requirement that a

14  minimum level of health insurance coverage for employees,

15  including optional family coverage, whether employer-paid or

16  employee-paid, or a combination thereof, is available to

17  employees.

18         (d)(j)  Require the state agency to encourage state

19  employees to organize and submit a bid for the identified

20  state service.

21         (7)(4)  A state agency shall perform any activities

22  required by the council in the performance of its duties or

23  the exercise of its powers under this section.

24         (8)(5)  Contracts entered into by the council to

25  implement this section and any decision regarding whether a

26  state agency shall engage in competitive bidding are exempt

27  from state law regulating or limiting purchasing practices and

28  decisions, including chapter 120.

29         (9)(6)  A contract entered into pursuant to this

30  section constitutes an executive branch recommendation only

31  and shall not take effect until a specific appropriation is

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1573

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  1  provided by law to fund such contract. In addition, any

  2  contract entered into by an executive branch agency under this

  3  section must state in its text that its effect is contingent

  4  upon a specific appropriation by law. However, a contract

  5  entered into pursuant to this section may not impair the

  6  actions of any executive branch agency whose powers are

  7  derived directly from the State Constitution or impair any

  8  contractual or statutory obligations imposed by state or

  9  federal law or a grant-in-aid program a state agency pursuant

10  to this section shall include language that its effect is

11  contingent upon a specific appropriation by law.

12         (10)  The meetings and records of the council are

13  subject to the provisions of ss. 119.07 and 286.011.

14         Section 2.  Any other provision of law to the contrary

15  notwithstanding, no contract for services, request for

16  proposals, or invitation to bid between an agency of the state

17  and a contract vendor succeeding to the operation of a program

18  or function of a state agency shall be executed unless the

19  vendor shall be a domiciled corporation in this state or shall

20  have a significant business presence in the state for the

21  duration of the contract. For the purposes of this section,

22  the term "significant business presence" shall mean a

23  retention of substantially all of the filled positions

24  previously assigned to the state agency at substantially the

25  same total cash equivalent of salaries and benefits.

26         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1573

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  1            *****************************************

  2                          HOUSE SUMMARY

  3
      Revises provisions relating to the State Council on
  4    Competitive Government. Requires the council to direct
      the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
  5    Accountability and the Director of Efficiency and
      Enterprise Development of the office of planning and
  6    budgeting in the Executive Office of the Governor to
      review and report on all requests for proposals,
  7    invitations to bid, invitations to negotiate, or
      contracts issued by state agencies that propose the
  8    privatization of funded government. Requires state
      agencies to submit certain privatization proposals to the
  9    council. Provides considerations and criteria for review
      and report. Provides circumstances for competition with
10    private sources or other state agency service providers.
      Requires a contract entered into by an executive branch
11    agency to include a statement of contingent effect.
      Provides for open meetings and records. Requires a vendor
12    to be a domiciled state corporation or a significant
      business presence in the state.
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