MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2015 Regular Session
To: Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) Burton
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-120, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE COMPOSITION OF THE PERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACT REVIEW BOARD; TO REMOVE ALL EXEMPTIONS OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS FROM REVIEW BY THE 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 * * *
Chairman of the State Personnel Board, or his designee, from members of the
State Personnel Board four (4) individuals appointed by the Governor, one (1)
from each congressional district with initial appointments to be District 1 for
a term ending on June 30, 2016; District 2 for a term ending on June 30, 2017;
District 3 for a term ending on June 30, 2018; and District 4 for a term ending
on June 30, 2019.
At the expiration of the terms of the initial members, all members of the board shall be appointed by the Governor, in the same manner and from the same districts prescribed in this subsection (2), for terms of six (6) years from the expiration of the previous term and thereafter until his or her successor is duly appointed. Vacancies in office shall be filled by appointment in the same manner as the appointment to the position that becomes vacant, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate at the next regular session of the Legislature. An appointment to fill a vacancy other than by expiration of a term of office shall be for the balance of the unexpired term and thereafter until his or her successor is duly appointed.
(3) The * * * Chairman of the
State Personnel Board, or his designee, 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. * * * Four (4) members shall be a quorum. No action
shall be valid unless approved by the chairman and * * * three (3) other of those
members present and voting, entered upon the minutes of the board and signed by
the chairman. The State Personnel Director shall serve as the Secretary of
the Personal Services Contract Review Board and maintain all records and
minutes of the Personal Services Contract Review Board. 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.
(4) The Lieutenant Governor may designate one (1) Senator and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may designate one (1) Representative to attend any meeting of the Personal Services Contract Review Board. The appointing authorities may designate alternate members from their respective houses to serve when the regular designees are unable to attend the meeting of the board. Those legislative designees shall have no jurisdiction or vote on any matter within the jurisdiction of the board. For attending meetings of the board, the legislators shall receive per diem and expenses, which shall be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same amounts as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session; however, no per diem and expenses for attending meeting of the board will be paid while the Legislature is in session. No per diem and expenses will be paid except for attending meetings of the board without prior approval of the proper committee in their respective houses.
( * * *5) 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 * * *.
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) * * *. Any rules and
regulations related to personal service contracts, and adopted by the board as
it was constituted before the effective date of this act, may not be revised
until July 1, 2015. Revisions to any such rules and regulations that may be
proposed by the board for adoption on July 1, 2015, shall be submitted to the
Committees on Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency of the Mississippi
House of Representatives and of the Mississippi State Senate by December 31,
2014. Further, any personal service contract executed after the effective date
of this act may not contain an expiration date that extends beyond July 1,
2015;
(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 * * *
under which 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) * * * 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) * * * Present recommendations for governmental
privatization and to evaluate privatization proposals submitted by any state
agency;
(g) * * * 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) * * * 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.
( * * *6) 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. No
person or employee or owner of a company that receives any grants or contracts
which are subject to this legislation shall be appointed to this board. Upon
review, the vendor that is the subject of contracts in this legislation shall
be found capable of delivery of the goods, services or products in the desired
manner and to the respective groups which are the need for the contract.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.