Florida Senate - 2011                              CS for SB 276
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Senators Bennett and Lynn
       
       
       
       585-01840-11                                           2011276c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to procurement; requiring that the
    3         Chief Financial Officer review and conduct an analysis
    4         of the procurement process for the design, build, and
    5         maintenance of state buildings and facilities;
    6         requiring that the Chief Financial Officer submit a
    7         report to the Legislature by a specified date;
    8         amending s. 287.055, F.S.; authorizing a governmental
    9         agency or school board to reopen negotiations with a
   10         selected firm following termination of negotiations
   11         with other firms; providing an effective date.
   12  
   13         WHEREAS, the First District Court of Appeals Courthouse
   14  located in the Southwood area of Tallahassee, Florida, will cost
   15  taxpayers more than $70 million dollars when the bonds to
   16  finance the development of the courthouse are paid in full, and
   17         WHEREAS, the judges of the District Court of Appeals took
   18  complete control of the planning and building of the new
   19  courthouse without any oversight or transparency, and
   20         WHEREAS, the First District Court of Appeals Courthouse has
   21  approximately 100 employees in a taxpayer-funded facility that
   22  has roughly 100,000 square feet, which gives each employee
   23  approximately 1,000 square feet of space. This exceeds the
   24  normal limit of 180 square feet of office space that the
   25  Department of Management Service typically limits for state
   26  employees, and
   27         WHEREAS, the judges of the District Court of Appeals
   28  directed the architect and project manager of the new courthouse
   29  to spend tens of millions of dollars on interior-framed wall
   30  hangings, soundproof private bathrooms for the judges, an
   31  exercise room, two posh robbing rooms, dozens of large flat
   32  screen televisions, miles of South American Sepalia Mahogany,
   33  and granite counter tops, and
   34         WHEREAS, the Department of Management Services relinquished
   35  its usual building management protocols and gave complete
   36  decisionmaking and planning control to two judges of the
   37  District Court of Appeals to plan and build what is now known
   38  statewide as the “Taj Mahal” courthouse, NOW, THEREFORE,
   39  
   40  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   41  
   42         Section 1. (1) The Chief Financial Officer shall review and
   43  conduct an analysis of the procurement process for the design,
   44  build, and maintenance of state buildings and facilities. The
   45  Chief Financial Officer shall review, at a minimum:
   46         (a) The contracting procedures for the construction,
   47  maintenance, and renovation of state-owned facilities;
   48         (b) The lines of authority and the areas of responsibility
   49  by all parties involved in the procurement process;
   50         (c) The methodology for the selection of internal fixtures,
   51  furnishings, artwork, and any relevant infrastructure systems;
   52  and
   53         (d) Any identified necessary signatories and approvals for
   54  such projects.
   55         (2) The Chief Financial Officer shall submit a written
   56  report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
   57  House of Representatives by October 1, 2011. The report must
   58  include any recommendations for revising the law or rules
   59  designed to promote transparency and accountability in the
   60  state’s design-build process.
   61         Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 287.055, Florida
   62  Statutes, is amended to read:
   63         287.055 Acquisition of professional architectural,
   64  engineering, landscape architectural, or surveying and mapping
   65  services; definitions; procedures; contingent fees prohibited;
   66  penalties.—
   67         (5) COMPETITIVE NEGOTIATION.—
   68         (a) The agency shall negotiate a contract with the most
   69  qualified firm for professional services at compensation which
   70  the agency determines is fair, competitive, and reasonable. In
   71  making such determination, the agency shall conduct a detailed
   72  analysis of the cost of the professional services required in
   73  addition to considering their scope and complexity. For any
   74  lump-sum or cost-plus-a-fixed-fee professional service contract
   75  over the threshold amount provided in s. 287.017 for CATEGORY
   76  FOUR, the agency shall require the firm receiving the award to
   77  execute a truth-in-negotiation certificate stating that wage
   78  rates and other factual unit costs supporting the compensation
   79  are accurate, complete, and current at the time of contracting.
   80  Any professional service contract under which such a certificate
   81  is required must contain a provision that the original contract
   82  price and any additions thereto will be adjusted to exclude any
   83  significant sums by which the agency determines the contract
   84  price was increased due to inaccurate, incomplete, or noncurrent
   85  wage rates and other factual unit costs. All such contract
   86  adjustments must be made within 1 year following the end of the
   87  contract.
   88         (b) Should the agency be unable to negotiate a satisfactory
   89  contract with the firm considered to be the most qualified at a
   90  price the agency determines to be fair, competitive, and
   91  reasonable, negotiations with that firm must be formally
   92  terminated. The agency shall then undertake negotiations with
   93  the second most qualified firm. Failing accord with the second
   94  most qualified firm, the agency must terminate negotiations. The
   95  agency may shall then undertake negotiations with the third most
   96  qualified firm. The agency may reopen negotiations with any
   97  selected firm upon terminating negotiations with another
   98  selected firm.
   99         (c) Should the agency be unable to negotiate a satisfactory
  100  contract with any of the selected firms, the agency shall select
  101  additional firms in the order of their competence and
  102  qualification and continue negotiations in accordance with this
  103  subsection until an agreement is reached.
  104         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.