HF 2173 (LSB 5934YH (5) 83)

HOUSE FILE 2173

BY  RUNNING-MARQUARDT

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to purchasing preferences for disaster recovery products.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 8A.311, subsection 12, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   12.  a.  The state and its political subdivisions shall give preference to purchasing Iowa products and purchasing from Iowa-based businesses if the bids submitted are comparable in price to those submitted by other bidders and meet the required specifications.
   b.  For disaster recovery products in an area that the governor has proclaimed a disaster emergency or the president of the United States has declared a major disaster, preference may be given to Iowa products and Iowa-based businesses even if bids submitted for out-of-state products and by out-of-state businesses are lower in price and meet the required specifications provided the following criteria are met for procurement through competitive bidding or requests for proposals:
   (1)  For bids and proposals of twenty-five thousand dollars or less, the Iowa bid or proposal does not exceed the acceptable low bid or acceptable low proposal by more than ten percent.
   (2)  For bids and proposals of more than twenty-five thousand dollars and less than two hundred thousand dollars, the Iowa bid or proposal does not exceed the acceptable low bid or acceptable low proposal by more than five percent.
   (3)  For bids and proposals of two hundred thousand dollars or more, the Iowa bid or proposal does not exceed the acceptable low bid or acceptable low proposal by more than one percent.
EXPLANATION
   This bill relates to purchasing preferences for disaster recovery related products.
   Currently, the state and its political subdivisions must give preference to purchasing Iowa products and purchasing from Iowa-based businesses if the bids submitted are comparable in price to those submitted by other bidders and meet the required specifications. The bill allows the state and its political subdivisions to give preference to Iowa products and Iowa-based businesses even if bids submitted for out-of-state products and by out-of-state businesses are lower in price and meet the required specifications when the products are necessary in a disaster recovery in an area that the governor has proclaimed a disaster emergency or the president of the United States has declared a major disaster. The bill limits the amount by which such bids or proposals may exceed an acceptable low bid or proposal based on the dollar amount of the bid or proposal.