State Finance Law §163 of the Procurement Stewardship Act will sunset on June 30, 2016. In advance of the expiration date, The Business Council is looking for member input. Please complete the survey below by January 13, 2016, to help guide our recommendations to the Office of General Services.

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* 1. The information below will be used ONLY for the purposes of follow-up to this survey.

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* 2. The Procurement Stewardship Act should be extended every:

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* 3. What changes, if any, should be made to the general purchases discretionary threshold for:

  Increase Decrease Stay the same
State Agencies ($50,000)
OGS Finance ($85,000)
SUNY ($125,000)

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* 4. What changes, if any, should be made to the discretionary threshold for purchases from small- or MWBE-companies, RR commodities or technology for:

  Increase Decrease Stay the same
State Agencies ($200,000)
OGS Finance ($200,000)
SUNY ($200,000)

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* 5. What changes would benefit participation by the MWBEs, small businesses and RR sellers?

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* 6. (FOR MWBEs only) What has your experience been with the certification and registration process administered by ESD?

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* 7. What changes, if any, should be made to the threshold for OSC contract approval requirements for:

  Increase Decrease Stay the same
State Agencies ($50,000)
OGS Finance ($85,000)
SUNY (Required only for non-construction service contracts valued over $250,000)

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* 8. What changes, if any, should be made to the commodity bidding opportunities threshold for contract reporter requirements for:

  Increase Decrease Stay the same
State Agencies ($50,000)
OGS Finance ($50,000)
SUNY ($50,000)

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* 9. What changes, if any, should be made to the services threshold for contract reporter requirements for:

  Increase Decrease Stay the same
State Agencies ($50,000)
OGS Finance ($50,000)
SUNY ($50,000)

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* 10. State agencies are required to offer debriefings to unsuccessful offerers regarding the reasons that the proposal or bid submitted by the unsuccessful offerer was not selected for an award. Do you find debriefings to be helpful?

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* 11. What agencies would you consider to employ debriefing "best practices" (ie, clear understanding of why your bid was unsuccessful, additional information that would be useful in improving future bids).

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* 12. Through the Procurement Stewardship Act, the state seeks to achieve "special social and economic goals" by requiring or encouraging procurement from designated groups. State Finance Law §162 provides an exemption from the competitive bidding requirements for the procurement of commodities and services provided by Preferred Sources when such commodities or services meet the agency’s stated “form, function or utility.” State Finance Law §163 specifies that priority be given to purchasing from (1) preferred sources, (2) centralized contracts, (3) agency or multi-agency contracts, and (4) other means of contracting, such as competitive or non-competitive purchasing. 

Should the law be amended to clarify these priorities?

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* 13. New York State Finance Law stipulates that "the opportunity for an unsuccessful offerer to seek a debriefing shall be stated in the solicitation, which shall provide a reasonable time for requesting a debriefing." Do you find debriefings to be more useful:

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* 14. In State Finance Law § 139-j of the Procurement Lobbying Law, it states that contacts between a governmental entity  and an offerer are restricted at the first written document soliciting a response.

Reporting requirements on such communications, however, are triggered at the procuring governmental entity's "determination of need."

Generally speaking, what has your experience been in terms of communications with state agencies?

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* 15. What other procurement issues would you like to see addressed? 

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