2021 Senate Bill 642 ↩

House Roll Call 498: Passed

To revise state procedures for contracting for architectural, engineering or land surveying services by requiring officials to assess and rank vendors according to specified (and potentially subjective) criteria, and then try to negotiate a “fair and reasonable” contract with the “highest ranking” firm. The bill does not define “fair and reasonable,” and in the absence of competitive bidding it is not clear how a state department could unilaterally determine that amount. If officials don’t get the price they want they would repeat the process with the next “highest ranking” firm.