CONFERENCE
COMMITTEE REP. NO. 136
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2021
RE: S.B. No. 1329
S.D. 2
H.D. 3
C.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2021
State of Hawaii
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2021
State of Hawaii
Sirs:
Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 1329, S.D. 2, H.D. 3, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROCUREMENT,"
having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.
The purpose of this measure is to amend the Hawaii Public Procurement Code to:
(1) Require the Chief Procurement Officer
or designee to address protests as expeditiously as possible;
(2) Establish time limits to resolve protests to the awards of competitive sealed proposal contracts and procurements of professional services, if the protest is not resolved by mutual agreement, unless extenuating circumstances require additional time; and
(3) Amend
the cash or protest bond amount for a party initiating an administrative
proceeding for review of a decision on the solicitation or award of a
competitive sealed bidding or competitive sealed proposal contract, depending
on the estimated value of the awarded contract.
Your Committee on Conference finds that the
timely review and resolution of bid protests reduces the costs and facilitates
the execution of state-awarded projects, especially contracts on major
construction and other crucial infrastructure enhancements. Your Committee on Conference notes that
existing statutes and administrative rules on administrative review of the procurement
protests require a resolution within forty-five days from the date of receipt
of the protest, and therefore concludes that seventy-five calendar days, with an
extension of forty-five calendar days for extenuating circumstances, is a
sufficient period of time for review and response from the procuring department
or agency.
Your Committee on
Conference further finds that the current cash or protest bond amount for a
party initiating an administrative proceeding for review under the Hawaii
Public Procurement Code is too low for public works projects.
Accordingly, your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:
(1) Requiring the Chief Procurement Officer or designee to respond to protests to the awards of construction contracts and airport contracts that are not resolved by mutual agreement, within seventy-five calendar days of receipt of the protests;
(2) Allowing
for an extension of the seventy-five-day resolution period under certain
circumstances;
(3) Amending
the protest bond amount for a party initiating an administrative proceeding for
review of a decision on the solicitation or award of a competitive sealed bidding
or competitive sealed proposal contract to the singular rate of one percent of
the estimated value of the contract;
(4) Making it effective upon its approval; and
(5) Making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and
consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1329, S.D. 2, H.D. 3, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1329, S.D. 2, H.D. 3, C.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:
ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE |
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ON THE PART OF THE SENATE |
____________________________ ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY Co-Chair |
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____________________________ SHARON MORIWAKI Chair |
____________________________ AARON LING JOHANSON Co-Chair |
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____________________________ DONNA MERCADO KIM Co-Chair |
____________________________ TINA WILDBERGER Co-Chair |
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____________________________ DRU KANUHA Co-Chair |
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