Florida Senate - 2011 CS for SB 386
By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
and Senators Bogdanoff, Fasano, and Gaetz
585-02920-11 2011386c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to preference to Florida businesses in
3 procurement of personal property and services;
4 providing a short title; amending s. 283.35, F.S.;
5 requiring an agency, county, municipality, school
6 district, or other political subdivision of the state
7 to grant a specified preference to a vendor located
8 within the state when awarding a contract for printing
9 under certain circumstances; specifying the
10 percentages of preference to be granted; amending s.
11 287.084, F.S.; requiring, rather than authorizing, an
12 agency, county, municipality, school district, or
13 other political subdivision of the state in making
14 purchases of personal property through competitive
15 solicitation to award a preference to the lowest
16 responsible and responsive vendor having a principal
17 place of business within this state under specified
18 circumstances; specifying the percentages of
19 preference to be granted; providing an effective date.
20
21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Buy Florida Act.”
24 Section 2. Section 283.35, Florida Statutes, is amended to
25 read:
26 283.35 Preference given printing within the state.—Every
27 agency shall give preference to vendors located within the state
28 (1) When awarding a contract contracts to have materials
29 printed, the agency, county, municipality, school district, or
30 other political subdivision of this state awarding the contract
31 shall grant a preference to the lowest responsible and
32 responsive vendor having a principal place of business within
33 this state if the whenever such printing can be performed in
34 this state done at no greater expense than the expense of
35 awarding a contract to a vendor located outside the state and
36 can be done at a level of quality comparable to that obtainable
37 from the a vendor submitting the lowest bid located outside the
38 state. The preference for the in-state bidder shall be:.
39 (a) Equal to the preference granted by the state or
40 political subdivision in which the lowest responsible and
41 responsive vendor has its principal place of business; or
42 (b) Five percent if the lowest bid is submitted by a vendor
43 whose principal place of business is located outside the state
44 and that state does not grant a preference in competitive
45 solicitation to vendors having a principal place of business in
46 that state.
47 (2) Any vendor whose principal place of business is in
48 another state must accompany any written bid, proposal, or reply
49 documents with a written opinion of an attorney licensed in that
50 state regarding any preferences granted by that state to its own
51 business entities whose principal places of business are in that
52 state in the letting of public contracts.
53 Section 3. Section 287.084, Florida Statutes, is amended to
54 read:
55 287.084 Preference to Florida businesses.—
56 (1)(a) When an agency, county, municipality, school
57 district, or other political subdivision of the state is
58 required to make purchases of personal property through
59 competitive solicitation and the lowest responsible and
60 responsive bid, proposal, or reply is by a vendor whose
61 principal place of business is in a state or political
62 subdivision thereof which grants a preference for the purchase
63 of such personal property to a person whose principal place of
64 business is in such state, then the agency, county,
65 municipality, school district, or other political subdivision of
66 this state shall may award a preference to the lowest
67 responsible and responsive vendor having a principal place of
68 business within this state, which preference is equal to the
69 preference granted by the state or political subdivision thereof
70 in which the lowest responsible and responsive vendor has its
71 principal place of business. In a competitive solicitation in
72 which the lowest bid is submitted by a vendor whose principal
73 place of business is located outside the state and that state
74 does not grant a preference in competitive solicitation to
75 vendors having a principal place of business in that state, the
76 preference to the lowest responsible and responsive vendor
77 having a principal place of business in this state shall be 5
78 percent.
79 (b) Paragraph (a) However, this section does not apply to
80 transportation projects for which federal aid funds are
81 available.
82 (2) If a solicitation provides for the granting of such
83 preference as is provided in this section, Any vendor whose
84 principal place of business is outside the State of Florida must
85 accompany any written bid, proposal, or reply documents with a
86 written opinion of an attorney at law licensed to practice law
87 in that foreign state, as to the preferences, if any or none,
88 granted by the law of that state to its own business entities
89 whose principal places of business are in that foreign state in
90 the letting of any or all public contracts.
91 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.