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03/19/2024 03:55 AM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20190&cosponId=28832
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2019 - 2020 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: March 18, 2019 10:08 AM
From: Senator Camera Bartolotta
To: All Senate members
Subject: Helping Small & Diverse Businesses Seek Procurement Contracts with the Dept. of General Services
 
In the near future, I will introduce legislation to enhance the state contract bidding stature for both large and small Pennsylvania-based minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses. A large diverse business is defined as a veteran, minority and women-owned business with over 100 employees. A small diverse business is defined as a veteran, minority or women-owned business with less than 100 employees.

This legislation will provide priority status to large businesses of this nature in instances where the Department of General Services has not received a bid from a small diverse business. In cases where a small diverse business has made a bid for a state contract, it will be granted priority status provided its bid does not exceed 125% of the budgeted amount for the project.

My bill would also exempt small diverse businesses from bonding for contracts under $25,000 and would require an annual report to the General Assembly identifying contracts awarded to small diverse businesses and other diverse businesses during the preceding fiscal year. Additionally, this proposal would establish a small business reserve program to increase economic opportunities for small and small diverse businesses to bid on contracts without competing with larger businesses.

This proposal follows in the footsteps of Act 5 of 2018. That legislation ended archaic bidding criteria, such as employee limits and maximum annual sales, which served to undermine business opportunities for Pennsylvania-based minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses.

Please join me in cosponsoring this important piece of legislation.



Introduced as SB754