2012 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 39 — Public finance
RS 39:1503 — Requests for proposals

SUBPART B. REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS

§1503. Requests for proposals

A.(1) For consulting service contracts with a total maximum compensation of fifty thousand dollars or more, except for such contracts entered into by the Department of Transportation and Development, adequate public notice of the request for proposals shall be given by advertising in the official journal of the state and in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the state at least once. The advertisement shall appear at least thirty days before the last day that proposals will be accepted. When available, advertisements shall be placed in those national trade journals which serve the particular type of contractor desired. In addition, written notice shall be provided to persons, firms, or corporations who are known to be in a position to furnish such services, at least thirty days before the last day that proposals will be accepted.

(2) For social service contracts not qualifying under R.S. 39:1494.1(A), adequate public notice of the request for proposals shall be given by advertising in the official journal of the state, in the official journal of the parish in which the services are to be performed and such other newspapers, bulletins, or other media as are appropriate in the circumstances. Such advertisements shall appear at least once in the official journal of the state and once in the official journal of the parish. If the services are to be performed in or made available to residents of a multiparish area, advertising in the official journal of the state and in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the state at least once shall be sufficient to meet this requirement. In all cases, the advertisement shall appear at least fourteen days before the last day that the proposals will be accepted. In addition, written notice shall be provided to persons, firms, or corporations who are known to be in a position to furnish such services, at least fourteen days before the last day that proposals will be accepted. This last requirement is subject to reasonable limitation at the discretion of the using agency.

(3) For consulting service contracts entered into by the Department of Transportation and Development with a total maximum compensation of fifty thousand dollars or more, adequate public notice of the request for proposals shall be given by advertising in the official journal of the state at least once. The first advertisement shall appear at least fifteen days before the last day that proposals will be accepted. In addition, written notice shall be provided to persons, firms, or corporations who are known to be in a position to furnish such services, at least fifteen days prior to the last day that proposals will be accepted.

(4) All requests for proposals shall be advertised by a using agency through a centralized electronic interactive environment administered by the division of administration as provided in this Section. The advertisement or written notice required by this Section shall contain the name and address of the using agency and shall establish the specific date, time, and place by which the request for proposals must be received.

B. The Request for Proposals shall indicate the relative importance of price and other evaluation factors, shall clearly define the tasks to be performed under the contract, the criteria to be used in evaluating the proposals and the time frames within which the work must be completed.

C. Award shall be made to the responsible offerer whose proposal is determined in writing by the head of the using agency to be the most advantageous to the state, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the Request for Proposals.

D. Written or oral discussions shall be conducted with all responsible offerers who submit proposals determined in writing to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for award. Discussions shall not disclose any information derived from proposals submitted by competing offerers. Discussions need not be conducted:

(1) With respect to prices, where such prices are fixed by law or regulation, except that consideration shall be given to competitive terms and conditions; or

(2) Where time of delivery or performance will not permit discussions; or

(3) Where it can be clearly demonstrated and documented from the existence of adequate competition or accurate prior cost experience with that particular service that acceptance of an initial offer without discussion would result in fair and reasonable prices, and the Request for Proposals notifies all offerers of the possibility that award may be made on the basis of the initial offers.

E. Requests for proposals shall not be required for "interagency contracts" as defined in R.S. 39:1490(C).

F. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Chapter, all relevant federal statutes and regulations shall be followed by the using agency in procuring services. The burden of complying with these federal statutes and regulations shall rest with the using agency and shall be documented in the contract record submitted to the office of contractual review.

Added by Acts 1978, No. 772, §1; Acts 1983, No. 290, §1; Acts 1985, No. 673, §1; Acts 1987, No. 603, §1; Acts 1990, No. 903, §1, eff. July 1, 1990; Acts 1993, No. 123, §1; Acts 1997, No. 676, §1; Acts 2001, No. 1032, §13; Acts 2004, No. 433, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 2004.