ASSEMBLY, No. 466
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION
By Assemblyman ROMA and Assemblywoman HECK
An Act concerning public school contracts and amending N.J.S.18A:18A-31 and 18A:18A-37.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.18A:18A-31 is amended to read as follows:
18A:18A-31. Where there have been developments subsequent to the qualification and classification of a bidder which in the opinion of the board of education would affect the responsibility of the bidder, information to that effect shall forthwith be transmitted to the department for its review and reconsideration of the classification. Before taking final action on any such bid, the board of education concerned shall notify the bidder and give him an opportunity to present to the department any additional information which might tend to substantiate the existing classification ; except that the board of education may take final action on the bid if the board has had a prior negative experience with the bidder pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.18A:18A-37.
(cf: N.J.S.18A:18A-31)
2. N.J.S.18A:18A-37 is amended to read as follows:
18A:18A-37. All purchases, contracts or agreements which require public advertisement for bids shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder; except that a board of education shall not be required to award a purchase, contract or agreement to the lowest bidder if the board, because of a prior negative experience with that bidder, determines that it is not in the best interests of the school district to do so. As used in this section, "prior negative experience" shall include the following: the bidder has been found liable in an adjudicated case, through either a court proceeding or arbitration, for noncompletion or failing to complete work in a timely manner or unsatisfactory job performance for work performed under a prior contract with the board; the board of education determines that the bidder did not complete work under a prior contract with the board in a timely and satisfactory manner; the board of education was required to withhold monies due the contractor to utilize the services of another contractor to correct or complete the project; or the liquidated damage clause of a contract had to be invoked against the contractor.
Prior to the award of any other purchase, contract or agreement, the contracting agent shall, except in the case of the performance of professional services, solicit quotations, whenever practicable, on any such purchase, contract or agreement the estimated cost or price of which is 20% or more of the amount set forth in, or calculated by the Governor pursuant to, N.J.S.18A:18A-3 and the award thereof shall be made, in accordance with N.J.S.18A:18A-3 or N.J.S.18A:18A-4, as the case may be, on the basis of the lowest responsible quotation received, which quotation is most advantageous to the board of education, price and other factors considered; provided, however, that if the contracting agent deems it impractical to solicit competitive quotations in the case of extraordinary unspecifiable service, or, in the case of such or any other purchase, contract or agreement awarded hereunder, having sought such quotations determines that it should not be awarded on the basis of the lowest quotation received, the contracting agent shall file a statement of explanation of the reason or reasons therefor, which shall be placed on file with said purchase, contract or agreement.
(cf: P.L.1983, c.171, s.6)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a board of education shall not be required to award a contract to the lowest bidder if the board, because of a prior negative experience with that bidder, determines that it is not in the best interest of the district to do so. The bill defines "prior negative experience" to include the following: the bidder was found liable in an adjudicated case for noncompletion or unsatisfactory job performance for work performed under a prior contract with the board; the board of education determines that the bidder did not complete work under a prior contract with the board in a timely and satisfactory manner; the board of education was required to withhold monies due the contractor to utilize the services of another contractor to correct or complete the project; or the liquidated damage clause of a contract had to be invoked against contractor.
Under existing law, a board of education is required to provide information to the Department of Education on a contractor's performance at the time of the completion of the contract. This information is to be reviewed and used in any reconsideration of the bidder's qualification as a prospective bidder. However, before a board of education can take any final action on a bid submitted by a bidder with whom the board may have had a negative experience, the board must notify the bidder and give him an opportunity to present information to the department. The provisions of this bill continue to afford the bidder an opportunity to present information to the department to substantiate the bidder's classification, but allow the board of education to take final action on the bid if the board has had a prior negative experience with the bidder pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.18A:18A-37.
The committee amended the bill to define "prior negative experience."
Allows board of education to disqualify a bidder if the board has had prior negative experience with that bidder.