PRINTER'S NO. 2333
No. 1894 Session of 1995
INTRODUCED BY CAWLEY, TIGUE, CAPPABIANCA, O'BRIEN, CORRIGAN,
KELLER, McGEEHAN AND SCRIMENTI, JUNE 28, 1995
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 28, 1995
AN ACT
1 Regulating government agency purchases from corporations
2 conducting business in Northern Ireland.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Nondiscrimination in employment in Northern Ireland.
6 For the purposes of this act, "MacBride Fair Employment
7 Principles" shall mean those principles relating to
8 nondiscrimination in employment and freedom of workplace
9 opportunity which would require employers doing business in
10 Northern Ireland to:
11 (1) increase the representation of individuals from
12 underrepresented religious groups in the workforce, including
13 managerial, supervisory, administrative, clerical and
14 technical jobs;
15 (2) take steps to promote adequate security for the
16 protection of employees from underrepresented religious
17 groups both at the workplace and while traveling to and from
1 work;
2 (3) ban provocative religious or political emblems from
3 the workplace;
4 (4) publicly advertise all job openings and make special
5 recruitment efforts to attract applicants from
6 underrepresented religious groups;
7 (5) establish layoff, recall and termination procedures
8 which do not in practice favor a particular religious group;
9 (6) abolish all job reservations, apprenticeship
10 restrictions and differential employment criteria which
11 discriminate on the basis of religion;
12 (7) develop training programs that will prepare
13 substantial numbers of current employees from
14 underrepresented religious groups for skilled jobs, including
15 the expansion of existing programs and the creation of new
16 programs to train, upgrade and improve the skills of workers
17 from underrepresented religious groups;
18 (8) establish procedures to assess, identify and
19 actively recruit employees from underrepresented religious
20 groups with potential for further advancement; and
21 (9) appoint a senior management staff member to oversee
22 affirmative action efforts and develop a timetable to ensure
23 their full implementation.
24 Section 2. Contract provisions.
25 (a) General rule.--With respect to contracts described in
26 this section, the Secretary of General Services, any executive
27 department, authority or institution or other agency of a
28 department of the Commonwealth shall not contract for the supply
29 of goods, services or construction with any contractor who does
30 not agree to stipulate to the following if there is another
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1 contractor who will contract to supply goods, services or
2 construction of comparable quality at a comparable price: the
3 contractor and any individual or legal entity in which the
4 contractor holds a 10% or greater ownership interest and any
5 individual or legal entity that holds a 10% or greater interest
6 in the contractor shall either:
7 (1) have no business operations in Northern Ireland; or
8 (2) take lawful steps in good faith to conduct any
9 business operations they have in Northern Ireland in
10 accordance with MacBride Fair Employment Principles and shall
11 permit independent monitoring of their compliance with those
12 principles.
13 (b) Bid contracts.--In the case of contracts let by
14 competitive sealed bidding, whenever the lowest responsible
15 bidder has not agreed to stipulate to the conditions set forth
16 in this section and another bidder who has agreed to stipulate
17 to such conditions has submitted a bid within 5% of the lowest
18 responsible bid for a contract to supply goods, services or
19 construction of comparable quality, the contracting entity shall
20 refer such bids to the Secretary of General Services, who may
21 determine in accordance with applicable law and rules that it is
22 in the best interest of this Commonwealth that the contract be
23 awarded to a bidder other than the lowest responsible bidder.
24 (c) Other contracts.--In the case of contracts let by other
25 than competitive sealed bidding for goods or services involving
26 an expenditure of an amount greater than $10,000 or for
27 construction involving an amount greater than $15,000, the
28 contracting entity shall not award to a proposed contractor who
29 has not agreed to stipulate to the conditions set forth in this
30 section unless the entity seeking to use the goods, services or
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1 construction determines that the goods, services or construction
2 are necessary for the entity to perform its functions and there
3 is no other responsible contractor who will supply goods,
4 services or construction of comparable quality at a comparable
5 price. Such determinations shall be made in writing and shall be
6 public documents.
7 Section 3. Violation.
8 Upon receiving information that a contractor who has made the
9 stipulation required by this act is in violation thereof, the
10 contracting entity shall review the information and offer the
11 contractor an opportunity to respond. If the contracting entity
12 finds that a violation has occurred, it shall take such action
13 as may be appropriate and provided for by law, rule or contract,
14 including, but not limited to, imposing sanctions, seeking
15 compliance, recovering damages, declaring the contractor in
16 default and/or seeking debarment or suspension of the
17 contractor.
18 Section 4. Exclusions.
19 As used in this act, the term "contract" shall not include
20 contracts with government and nonprofit organizations, contracts
21 awarded pursuant to emergency procurement procedures or
22 contracts, resolutions, indentures, declarations of trust or
23 other instruments authorizing or relating to the authorization,
24 issuance, award, sale or purchase of bonds, certificates of
25 indebtedness, notes or other fiscal obligations, provided that
26 the policies of this section shall be considered when selecting
27 a contractor to provide financial or legal advice and when
28 selecting managing underwriters in connection with such
29 activities.
30 Section 5. Federal funds.
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1 The provisions of this act shall not apply to contracts for
2 which this Commonwealth or other contracting entity receives
3 funds administered by the United States Department of
4 Transportation, except to the extent Congress has directed that
5 the Department of Transportation not withhold funds from states
6 and localities that choose to implement selective purchasing
7 policies based on agreement to comply with the MacBride Fair
8 Employment Principles or to the extent that such funds are not
9 otherwise withheld by the Department of Transportation.
10 Section 6. Effective date.
11 This act shall take effect January 1, 1996.
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