Title: Permissible Contacts During Restricted Period of Governmental Procurement

Title: Permissible Contacts During Restricted Period of Governmental Procurement

Effective Date: January 1, 2006

I. &n= bsp; REASON FOR POLICY

· Provide general University expectations regarding appropriate communications during= the restricted period of a procurement

· Avoid violation of state and federal laws associated with State Finance Law §§139-j and 139-k

II. &= nbsp; POLICY STATEMENT

It is the policy= of SUNY Fredonia to ensure that only permissible contacts occur during the restricted period of a governmental procurement that involves an estimated annualized expenditure in excess of $15,000 for commodities, services, technology, public work, construction, revenue contracts as defined in State Finance Law §§139-j(l)(i), the purchas= e, sale or lease of real property, and/or the acquisition or granting of other interest in real property. Im= permissible contacts shall be reported in accordance with applicable State and Federal = laws. SUNY Fredonia shall accomplish this through the following:

· Designate a person or persons= who may be contacted by offerers relative to the procurement and make this information known wi= thin the solicitation documents

· Provide a copy of this policy= and associated laws to all vendors interested in a covered solicitation

· Require disclosure by Offerer= s about any findings of non-responsibility made within the previous four years by a= ny Governmental Entity and if the finding of non-responsibility was due to (1) engaging in impermissible contacts with a Governmental Entity or (2) the intentional provision of false or incomplete information to a Governmental Entity

· Require from all Offerers a w= ritten affirmation of understanding and agreement to comply with SUNY FredoniaR= 17;s policies and procedures relating to permissible contacts<= /p>

· Require from the winning vend= or a certification of compliance to the completeness, truth and accuracy of all information

· Include in the covered procur= ement documents a provision authorizing termination if the certification referenc= ed above is found to be intentionally false or intentionally incomplete

· Review the New York State Off= ice of General Services published list of non-responsible and debarred vendors for violations of SFL §§139-j and 139-k and consider such information in its’ determination of responsibility of the proposed vendor

· Collect, record, report (if applicable) and maintain certain information pertaining to those who contact SUNY Fredonia in an attempt to influence a covered procurement during the restricted period

· Notify the University Ethics Officer of impermissible contacts who will then review and/or investigate a= ny such alleged violations of the law and determine whether the Offerer has knowingly and willingly violated State Finance Law §139-j and 139-k

· If such determination is that a violation has occurred, Offerer will be found non-responsible and required notifications will be ma= de

III.  DEFINITIONS<=
/b>

For the purpos=
e of this section, the following terms will have the following meanings unl=
ess specified otherwise.

 a.      =
 "Governmental entity" shall mean:  (1)any department, board, bureau, commission,  division, office, council, committee or officer of th=
e state, whether permanent or temporary; (2) each house of  the  state legislature; (3)the unified court system; (4) any public authori=
ty, public benefit corporation or commission created by or existing pursuan=
t to the public authorities law; (5)any public authority or  public benefit corporation, at least one of =
whose    members is appointed by the g=
overnor or who serves as a member by virtue of holding a civil office of th=
e state; (6) a municipal agency, as that term is defined in paragraph (ii) =
of subdivision (s) of section one-c of the legislative law; or (7) a subsid=
iary or affiliate of such a public authority.
b.      =
 "Article of procurement" shall mean a commodity, service, technology, pu=
blic work, construction, revenue contract, the purchase, sale or lease of r=
eal property or an acquisition or granting of other interest in real property, that is the subject of a governmental procur=
ement.
c.      =
  "Contacts" shall mean any oral, written or electronic communicat=
ion with a governmental entity under circumstances where a reasonable perso=
n would infer that the communication was intended to influence the governme=
ntal procurement.
d.      =
 "Proposal" shall mean any bid, quotation, offer or response to a=
 governmental entity's solicitation of submissions relating to a procurement.
e.      =
 "Governmental procurement" shall mean: (i) the preparation or terms of the=
 specifications, bid documents, request for proposals, or evaluation  criteria for a procurement contract=
, (ii) solicitation for a procurement contract, (iii) evaluation of a procu=
rement  contract,  (iv) award, approval, denial or disappr=
oval of a procurement contract, or (v) approval or denial of an assignment,=
 amendment (other than amendments that are authorized and payable under the=
 terms of the procurement contract as it was finally awarded or approved by=
 the comptroller, as applicable), renewal or extension of a procurement  contract, or any other material =
change in the procurement contract resulting in a financial benefit to the =
offerer.
f.      =
   "Restricted period" shall mean the period of time commencing with the ear=
liest written notice, advertisement or solicitation of a request for propos=
al, invitation for bids, or solicitation of proposals, or any other method =
for soliciting a response from offerers intending to result in a procuremen=
t contract with a governmental entity and ending with the final contract aw=
ard and approval by the governmental entity and, where applicable, the stat=
e comptroller.
g.      =
 "Procurement contract" shall mean any contract or other agreement for =
an article of procurement involving an estimated annualized expenditure in =
excess of fifteen thousand dollars.  =
Grants, article eleven-B state =
; finance law contracts, intergovernmental agreements, railroad and =
utility  force accounts, utili=
ty relocation project agreements or orders and eminent domain transactions =
shall not be deemed procurement contracts.=
  
h.      =
 "Offerer" shall mean the individual or entity, or any employee, agent or co=
nsultant or person acting on behalf of such individual or entity, that cont=
acts a governmental entity about a governmental procurement during the rest=
ricted period of such governmental         &=
nbsp; procurement.
i.      =
    "Revenue contract" shall mean any written agreement between a government=
al entity, as that term is defined in subparagraphs one, four, five, six or=
 seven of paragraph a of this subdivision, and an  offerer whereby the governmental entity gives or grants a concession or a franch=
ise.
j.      =
   "Unified court system" shall, for the purposes of this section only, m=
ean the unified court system of the state of New York, or the office  of court administration, where appr=
opriate, other than town and village justice courts in jurisdictions with a=
  population under fifty thous=
and, when it acts solely in an administrative capacity to engage in governm=
ental procurements and shall not include the unified         &=
nbsp;    court system or any court of  the state judiciary when it acts to hear and=
 decide cases of original or appellate jurisdiction or otherwise acts in it=
s judicial, as opposed to administrative, capacity.=
 
III.  PERMISSIBLE CONTACTS
 
In general, contacts must be made to the designated person or person=
s at SUNY Fredonia, but the following constitute exceptions to this require=
ment;
 
·    Su=
bmission of a bid, proposal or response for a procurement contract
·    Su=
bmission of written questions when written responses are to be provided to =
all offerers
·    Pa=
rticipation in a pre-bid conference
·    Co=
mplaints by an offerer to Office of General Counsel where the designated pe=
rson for the procurement contract of SUNY Fredonia fails to respond in a ti=
mely manner
·    Ne=
gotiations with SUNY Fredonia after a tentative award·    De=
briefings about a procurement contract award
·    Fi=
ling of written disputes in administrative hearings, judicial proceedings a=
nd to the Attorney General, Inspector General, District Attorney, or State =
Comptroller
 <=
/span>
IV.   IMPERMISSIBLE CONTACTS
 
Impermissible contacts occur when the offerer c=
ontacts a person who is not the designated contact person for the applicabl=
e procurement in an attempt to influence the governmental procurement.  When an offerer contacts a person=
, other than the designated person(s), and engages in communication which a=
 reasonable person would infer was intended to influence the governmental p=
rocurement, this contact is not permitted under the law and is required to =
be recorded by the person(s) contacted, reported, and made a part of the pr=
ocurement record.  The obligat=
ions under the law are activated when an Offerer or anyone working on behal=
f of the Offerer has any oral, written, or electronic communication with SU=
NY Fredonia employees which a reasonable person would believe is intended t=
o influence the procurement.  =
There does not have to be financial interest present for there to be an att=
empt to influence the procurement.

 

V.    
RELATED INFORMATION

 

Additional information regarding applicability and requirements of St=
ate
Finance Law §§139-j and 139-k, may be found in the Office of
Facilities Planning located at 140 Hendrix Hall, SUNY Fredonia, Fredonia, N=
Y, 14063
and also by clicking on the link for State Finance Law Sections 139-j and 1=
39-k
at the Facilities Planning web site at:

 

=
·  &n=
bsp; www.fredonia.edu/admin/cfm <=
o:p>

 

 

V.    
AUTHORITY FOR POLICY

 

State Finance Law §§139-j
and 139-k