STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________

7709

2021-2022 Regular Sessions

IN ASSEMBLY

May 20, 2021 ___________

Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions

AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to procurements conducted by the New York city transit authority and the metropolitan transportation authority; and to repeal certain provisions of the public authorities law relating thereto; and providing for the repeal of certain provisions upon expiration thereof

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows:

1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of section 1209 of the 2 public authorities law are REPEALED. 3 § 2. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 8 of section 1209 of the 4 public authorities law, paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 725 of the 5 laws of 1993 and paragraph (b) as added by chapter 929 of the laws of 6 1986, are amended to read as follows: 7 (a) Advertisement for bids, when required by this section, shall be 8 published at least once in [a newspaper of general circulation in the 9 area served by the authority and in] the procurement opportunities news- 10 letter published pursuant to article four-C of the economic development 11 law provided that, notwithstanding the provisions of article four-C of 12 the economic development law, an advertisement shall only be required 13 when required by this section. Publication in [a newspaper of general 14 circulation in the area served or in] the procurement opportunities 15 newsletter shall not be required if bids for contracts for supplies, 16 materials or equipment are of a type regularly purchased by the authori- 17 ty and are to be solicited from a list of potential suppliers, if such 18 list is or has been developed consistent with the provisions of subdivi- 19 sion eleven of this section. Any such advertisement shall contain a 20 statement of: (i) the time and place where bids received pursuant to any 21 notice requesting sealed bids will be publicly opened and read; (ii) the 22 name of the contracting agency; (iii) the contract identification

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11398-03-1

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1 number; (iv) a brief description of the public work, supplies, materi- 2 als, or equipment sought, the location where work is to be performed, 3 goods are to be delivered or services provided and the contract term; 4 (v) the address where bids or proposals are to be submitted; (vi) the 5 date when bids or proposals are due; (vii) a description of any eligi- 6 bility or qualification requirement or preference; (viii) a statement as 7 to whether the contract requirements may be fulfilled by a subcontract- 8 ing, joint venture, or co-production arrangement; (ix) any other infor- 9 mation deemed useful to potential contractors; and (x) the name, 10 address, and telephone number of the person to be contacted for addi- 11 tional information. At least fifteen business days for public work 12 contracts and at least ten business days for purchase contracts shall 13 elapse between the first publication of such advertisement or the solic- 14 itation of bids, as the case may be, and the date of opening and reading 15 of bids. 16 (b) The authority may designate any officer or employee to open the 17 bids at the time and place bids are to be opened and may designate an 18 officer to award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder. Such 19 designee shall make a record of all bids in such form and detail as the 20 authority shall prescribe. All sealed bids received shall be received 21 either through an electronic bidding platform and electronically posted 22 for public view, or publicly opened and read, in either case at the time 23 [and], place and in the manner specified in the advertisement or speci- 24 fied at the time of solicitation, or to which the opening and reading or 25 posting have been adjourned by the authority. All bidders shall be noti- 26 fied of the time and place of any such adjournment. 27 § 3. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 9 of section 1209 of the public 28 authorities law, as added by chapter 929 of the laws of 1986, is amended 29 to read as follows: 30 (e) the item is available through an existing contract between a 31 vendor and [(i) another public authority provided that such other 32 authority utilized a process of competitive bidding or a process of 33 competitive requests for proposals to award such contract or (ii) the 34 state of New York or the city of New York,] any department, agency or 35 instrumentality of the United States government and/or any department, 36 agency, office, political subdivision or instrumentality of any state or 37 states provided that in any case when the authority under this paragraph 38 determines that obtaining such item thereby would be in the public 39 interest and sets forth the reasons for such determination. The authori- 40 ty shall accept sole responsibility for any payment due the vendor as a 41 result of the authority's order; or 42 § 4. Subdivision 10 of section 1209 of the public authorities law, as 43 added by chapter 929 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows: 44 10. Upon the adoption of a resolution by the authority stating, for 45 reasons of efficiency, economy, compatibility or maintenance reliabil- 46 ity, that there is a need for standardization, the authority may estab- 47 lish procedures whereby particular supplies, materials or equipment are 48 identified on a qualified products list. Such procedures shall provide 49 for products or vendors to be added to or deleted from such list and 50 shall include provisions for public advertisement of the manner in which 51 such lists are compiled. The authority shall review such list no less 52 than [twice] once a year for the purpose of making modifications there- 53 to. Contracts for particular supplies, materials or equipment identi- 54 fied on a qualified products list may be awarded by the authority to the 55 lowest responsible bidder after obtaining sealed bids in accordance with 56 this section or without competitive sealed bids in instances when the

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1 item is available from only a single source, except that the authority 2 may dispense with advertising provided that it mails copies of the invi- 3 tation to bid to all vendors of the particular item on the qualified 4 products list. 5 § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 1265-a of the public authorities law is 6 REPEALED. 7 § 6. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 3 of section 1265-a of the 8 public authorities law, paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 494 of the 9 laws of 1990 and paragraph (b) as added by chapter 929 of the laws of 10 1986, are amended to read as follows: 11 (a) Advertisement for bids, when required by this section, shall be 12 published at least once in [a newspaper of general circulation in the 13 area served by the authority and in] the procurement opportunities news- 14 letter published pursuant to article four-C of the economic development 15 law provided that, notwithstanding the provisions of article four-C of 16 the economic development law, an advertisement shall only be required 17 for a purchase contract for supplies, materials or equipment when 18 required by this section. Publication in [a newspaper of general circu- 19 lation in the area served or in] the procurement opportunities newslet- 20 ter shall not be required if bids for contracts for supplies, materials 21 or equipment are of a type regularly purchased by the authority and are 22 to be solicited from a list of potential suppliers, if such list is or 23 has been developed consistent with the provisions of subdivision six of 24 this section. Any such advertisement shall contain a statement of: (i) 25 the time and place where bids received pursuant to any notice requesting 26 sealed bids will be publicly opened and read; (ii) the name of the 27 contracting agency; (iii) the contract identification number; (iv) a 28 brief description of the public work, supplies, materials, or equipment 29 sought, the location where work is to be performed, goods are to be 30 delivered or services provided and the contract term; (v) the address 31 where bids or proposals are to be submitted; (vi) the date when bids or 32 proposals are due; (vii) a description of any eligibility or qualifica- 33 tion requirement or preference; (viii) a statement as to whether the 34 contract requirements may be fulfilled by a subcontracting, joint 35 venture, or co-production arrangement; (ix) any other information deemed 36 useful to potential contractors; and (x) the name, address, and tele- 37 phone number of the person to be contacted for additional information. 38 At least fifteen business days for public work contracts and at least 39 ten business days for purchase contracts shall elapse between the first 40 publication of such advertisement or the solicitation of bids, as the 41 case may be, and the date of opening and reading of bids. 42 (b) The authority may designate any officer or employee to open the 43 bids at the time and place bids are to be opened and may designate an 44 officer to award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder. Such 45 designee shall make a record of all bids in such form and detail as the 46 authority shall prescribe. All sealed bids received shall be received 47 either through an electronic bidding platform and electronically posted 48 for public view, or publicly opened and read, in either case at the 49 time, [and] place and in the manner specified in the advertisement or at 50 the time of solicitation, or to which the opening and reading or posting 51 have been adjourned by the authority. All bidders shall be notified of 52 the time and place of any such adjournment. 53 § 7. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 4 of section 1265-a of the public 54 authorities law, as added by chapter 929 of the laws of 1986, is amended 55 to read as follows:

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1 (e) the item is available through an existing contract between a 2 vendor and [(i) another public authority provided that such other 3 authority utilized a process of competitive bidding or a process of 4 competitive requests for proposals to award such contracts or (ii) 5 Nassau county, or (iii) the state of New York or (iv) the city of New 6 York] any department, agency or instrumentality of the United States 7 government and/or any department, agency, office, political subdivision 8 or instrumentality of any state or states, provided that in any case 9 when under this paragraph the authority determines that obtaining such 10 item thereby would be in the public interest and sets forth the reasons 11 for such determination. The authority shall accept sole responsibility 12 for any payment due the vendor as a result of the authority's order; or 13 § 8. Subdivision 5 of section 1265-a of the public authorities law, as 14 added by chapter 929 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows: 15 5. Upon the adoption of a resolution by the authority stating, for 16 reasons of efficiency, economy, compatibility or maintenance reliabil- 17 ity, that there is a need for standardization, the authority may estab- 18 lish procedures whereby particular supplies, materials or equipment are 19 identified on a qualified products list. Such procedures shall provide 20 for products or vendors to be added to or deleted from such list and 21 shall include provisions for public advertisement of the manner in which 22 such lists are compiled. The authority shall review such list no less 23 than [twice] once a year for the purpose of making such modifications. 24 Contracts for particular supplies, materials or equipment identified on 25 a qualified products list may be awarded by the authority to the lowest 26 responsible bidder after obtaining sealed bids in accordance with this 27 section or without competitive sealed bids in instances when the item is 28 available from only a single source, except that the authority may 29 dispense with advertising provided that it mails copies of the invita- 30 tion to bid to all vendors of the particular item on the qualified 31 products list. 32 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that 33 sections two, three, four, six, seven and eight of this act shall expire 34 and be deemed repealed April 1, 2024.