Senate Bill 2402

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-120, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE PERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACT REVIEW BOARD TO DEVELOP AND ISSUE REGULATIONS TO DEFINE STANDARDS FOR CONTRACT EMPLOYEES THAT ARE IN CONFORMITY WITH FEDERAL INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE REGULATIONS; 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 hereby 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 * * *~~and~~, 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), Mississippi Code of 1972 * * *.;

(b) Approve all personal and professional services contracts involving the expenditures of funds in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00);

(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 whereby agency heads may enter into contracts for personal and professional services without receiving prior approval from the Personal Service Contract Review 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 approval from the 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) The Personal Service Contract Review Board is hereby authorized and directed to develop and promulgate rules and regulations to define the allowable legal relationship between contract employees and the contracting departments, agencies and institutions of state government under the jurisdiction of the State Personnel Board, in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations of the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for federal employment tax purposes. Under these regulations, the usual common law rules are applicable to determine and require that such worker is an independent contractor and not an employee, requiring evidence of lawful behavioral control, lawful financial control and lawful relationship of the parties. Any state department, agency or institution shall only be authorized to contract for personnel services in compliance with said regulations. Any contract worker paid with federal funds shall be exempt from the requirements of these regulations.

( * * *45) 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.