MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Appropriations
By: Representative Baker
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-120, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ALL PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS INVOLVING THE EXPENDITURES OF FUNDS IN EXCESS OF ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS SHALL BE FINALLY APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD AFTER REVIEW BY THE PERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACT REVIEW BOARD; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 25-9-120, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-9-120. (1) Contract personnel, whether classified as contract workers or independent contractors shall not be deemed state service or nonstate service employees of the State of Mississippi, and shall not be eligible to participate in the Public Employees' Retirement System, or the state employee health plan, nor be allowed credit for personal and sick leave and other leave benefits as employees of the State of Mississippi, notwithstanding Sections 25-3-91 through 25-3-101; 25-9-101 through 25-9-151; 25-11-1 through 25-11-126; 25-11-128 through 25-11-131; 25-15-1 through 25-15-23 and for the purpose set forth herein. Contract workers, i.e., contract personnel who do not meet the criteria of independent contractors, shall be subject to the provisions of Section 25-11-127.
(2) There is * * *
created the Personal Service
Contract Review Board, which shall be composed of the State Personnel Director,
the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration, or his
designee, the Commissioner of Corrections, or his designee, the Executive
Director of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife * * *, Fisheries and Parks, or his
designee, and the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental
Quality, or his designee. The State Personnel Director shall be chairman and
shall preside over the meetings of the board. The board shall annually elect a
vice chairman, who shall serve in the absence of the chairman. No business
shall be transacted, including adoption of rules of procedure, without the
presence of a quorum of the board. Three (3) members shall be a quorum. No
action shall be valid unless approved by the chairman and two (2) other of
those members present and voting, entered upon the minutes of the board and
signed by the chairman. Necessary clerical and administrative support for the
board shall be provided by the State Personnel Board. Minutes shall be kept of
the proceedings of each meeting, copies of which shall be filed on a monthly
basis with the Legislative Budget Office.
(3) The Personal Service Contract Review Board shall have the following powers and responsibilities:
(a) Promulgate rules
and regulations governing the solicitation and selection of contractual
services personnel including personal and professional services contracts for
any form of consulting, policy analysis, public relations, marketing, public
affairs, legislative advocacy services or any other contract that the board
deems appropriate for oversight, with the exception of any personal service
contracts entered into for computer or information technology-related services
governed by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services, any
personal service contracts entered into by the Mississippi Department of
Transportation, and any contract for attorney, accountant, auditor, physician,
dentist, architect, engineer, veterinarian and utility rate expert services.
Any such rules and regulations shall provide for maintaining continuous
internal audit covering the activities of such agency affecting its revenue and
expenditures as required under Section 7-7-3(6)(d) * * *;
(b) * * *
Review all personal
and professional services contracts involving the expenditures of funds in
excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) and submit those
contracts with any recommendations to the State Personnel Board for final
approval or disapproval;
(c) Develop standards with respect to contractual services personnel which require invitations for public bid, requests for proposals, record keeping and financial responsibility of contractors. The Personal Service Contract Review Board may, in its discretion, require the agency involved to advertise such contract for public bid, and may reserve the right to reject any or all bids;
(d) Prescribe certain
circumstances * * *
under which agency heads may enter into contracts for personal and
professional services without * * * prior * * * review of the Personal
Service Contract Review Board and approval of the State Personnel Board.
The Personal Service Contract Review Board may establish a preapproved list of
providers of various personal and professional services for set prices with
which state agencies may contract without bidding or prior * * *
review of the Personal
Service Contract Review Board and approval of the State Personnel Board * * *;
(e) To provide standards for the issuance of requests for proposals, the evaluation of proposals received, consideration of costs and quality of services proposed, contract negotiations, the administrative monitoring of contract performance by the agency and successful steps in terminating a contract;
(f) To present recommendations for governmental privatization and to evaluate privatization proposals submitted by any state agency;
(g) To authorize personal and professional service contracts to be effective for more than one (1) year provided a funding condition is included in any such multiple year contract, except the State Board of Education, which shall have the authority to enter into contractual agreements for student assessment for a period up to ten (10) years. The State Board of Education shall procure these services in accordance with the Personal Service Contract Review Board procurement regulations;
(h) To request the State Auditor to conduct a performance audit on any personal or professional service contract;
(i) Prepare an annual report to the Legislature concerning the issuance of personal service contracts during the previous year, collecting any necessary information from state agencies in making such report.
(4) No member of the Personal Service Contract Review Board shall use his official authority or influence to coerce, by threat of discharge from employment, or otherwise, the purchase of commodities or the contracting for personal or professional services under this section.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.