State Finance and Procurement (GSF) — Title 12. Organization and Supervision of State Procurement

set policy;

adopt regulations, in accordance with Title 10, Subtitle 1 of the State Government Article; and

establish internal operational procedures consistent with this Division II.

ensure that the State’s procurement system is utilizing the most advanced procurement methods and management techniques;

examine all procurements that are subject to review by the Board and make recommendations to the Board as to the appropriateness of each procurement, with an emphasis on whether the proposed procurement:

prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse and foster competition in the expenditure of State funds in the procurement of supplies, services, or construction;

conduct investigations into procurement policies, practices, and procedures, as appropriate;

investigate complaints made by State employees concerning fraud, waste, and abuse in the procurement process and any alleged violation of the procurement law or regulations;

investigate complaints, other than formal bid protests filed under Title 15, Subtitle 2 of this article, made by contractors and other interested parties concerning fraud, waste, and abuse in the procurement process and any alleged violation of the procurement law or regulations;

if apparent criminal violations are found in the course of an investigation, report findings to the Board of Public Works, Office of the Attorney General, United States Attorney, and State or local prosecutors, as appropriate;

if other apparent violations of law or regulation are found in the course of an investigation, report findings to the Board of Public Works, the appropriate agency head, and any other appropriate body for administrative action;

produce and submit to the Board of Public Works and the General Assembly, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, an annual report of the activities of the Procurement Advisor, including:

assist agencies and the public with questions regarding procurement policy;

establish policies for the effective training of State procurement officials to ensure that the State’s procurement system is utilizing the most advanced procurement methods and management techniques;

review internal audit reports and comment as appropriate;

notify the Legislative Auditor when the Procurement Advisor undertakes an investigation under item (v) or (vi) of this paragraph.

have access to all books, accounts, records, reports, any material related to contracts and procurement, and all other papers and equipment necessary to carry out its responsibilities; and

have direct and prompt access to all heads of agencies involved in the expenditure of public funds.

The Board shall appoint a General Counsel, who serves at the pleasure of the Board.

The General Counsel shall be an attorney in this State.

provide independent legal advice to the Board;

examine all procurements that are subject to review by the Board and make recommendations to the Board as to the legal sufficiency of the procurements, with an emphasis on whether the proposed procurement has been competitively conducted;

assist the Procurement Advisor in investigations undertaken by the Procurement Advisor;

assist the Procurement Advisor in responding to complaints made by State employees, contractors, and other interested parties concerning fraud, waste, and abuse in the procurement process or any alleged violation of the procurement law and regulations;

compile information for distribution to State procurement officials relating to recent decisions of the Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals and State and federal courts concerning procurement, including any policy or legal guidance to the procurement officials based on these decisions; and

review regulations proposed by the Board for legality and approve them for proposal and adoption.

have access to all books, accounts, records, any material related to contracts and procurement, and all other papers and equipment necessary to carry out its responsibilities; and

have direct and prompt access to all heads of agencies involved in the expenditure of public funds.

the State Treasurer;

the Chancellor of the University System of Maryland;

the Chief Procurement Officer;

the Secretary of Information Technology;

the Secretary of Transportation;

the Procurement Advisor of the Board;

the Special Secretary for the Office of Small, Minority, and Women Business Affairs;

the Secretary of Juvenile Services;

the Secretary of Human Services;

the Secretary of Health;

the State Superintendent of Schools;

the Comptroller;

the Attorney General;

the following individuals, appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate:

three members of the general public appointed by the presiding officers of the General Assembly, of whom:

a member of the Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate; and

a member of the House of Delegates, appointed by the Speaker of the House.

If the State Treasurer is unable to attend a meeting of the Council, the Treasurer may designate the Deputy Treasurer to attend the meeting.

If a member of the Council listed in paragraph (1)(ii) through (xi) of this subsection is unable to attend a meeting of the Council, the member may designate a senior management staff member with experience in procurement to attend the meeting.

If the Comptroller is unable to attend a meeting of the Council, the Comptroller may send a designee to attend the meeting.

If the Attorney General is unable to attend a meeting of the Council, the Attorney General may send a designee to attend the meeting.

procurement officer training;

risk analysis and insurance requirements;

management of eMaryland Marketplace and other Internet procurement resources;

use of eMaryland Marketplace and compliance with § 17–502 of this article;

use of intergovernmental cooperative purchasing agreements;

strategies to increase the participation of small, minority–owned, and women–owned businesses in procurement contracts; and

any other issues or problems identified by the Council;

determine whether they fulfill the intent and purpose of the law, especially as it relates to fostering broad–based competition; and

make recommendations on the regulations, if revising and restructuring them will result in easier understanding and use; and

engage in or control procurement of:

while retaining oversight, delegate control of procurement activity to units with expertise in specified types of procurement;

develop performance metrics for procurement activity and implement strategic sourcing when appropriate;

compile comprehensive statistics on the procurement system by agency, amount, and type of procurement;

effect and enhance communication on procurement matters, with an emphasis on disseminating information on current developments and advances in the management of the State procurement system;

assist units with questions regarding procurement policy;

oversee the implementation of procurement officer training;

oversee the implementation of appropriate risk analysis and insurance requirements for State procurement; and

coordinate with governmental entities and local entities to maximize use of intergovernmental purchasing agreements established in accordance with § 13–110 of this article, including working with the State Department of Education to procure local food for local school systems in accordance with § 7–137 of the Education Article;

construction that is related to transportation, as provided in the Transportation Article;

construction related services that are related to transportation, as provided in the Transportation Article;

architectural or engineering services that are related to transportation, under Title 13, Subtitle 3 of this article;

supplies for transportation–related activities, including information technology supplies that are subject to Title 3.5 of this article, but excluding:

services for transportation–related activities, including information technology services that are subject to Title 3.5 of this article, but excluding banking and financial services under the authority of the State Treasurer under item (1) of this subsection;

rolling stock and other property peculiar to the operation of a transit system, as provided in § 7–403 of the Transportation Article;

supplies for aeronautics related activities, including motor vehicles and information processing supplies, but excluding:

services for aeronautics related activities, including information processing services, but excluding banking and financial services under the authority of the State Treasurer under item (1) of this subsection; and

supplies for port related activities, including motor vehicles and information processing supplies, but excluding:

services for port related activities, including information processing services, but excluding banking and financial services under the authority of the State Treasurer under item (1) of this subsection;

construction and construction related services for a port facility as defined in § 6–101(e) of the Transportation Article;

port related architectural and engineering services under Title 13, Subtitle 3 of this article; and

leases of real property for port related activities unless the lease payments are from the General Fund of the State.

a unit;

a county;

a municipality;

a county board of education; or

a special taxing district.

Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, “services” has the meaning stated in § 11–101 of this article.

“Services” includes:

where the services will be performed; and

the reasons why it is necessary or advantageous to perform the services outside the United States.

architectural services;

construction services;

engineering services; or

energy performance contract services.

the services are not available in the United States;

the price of the services in the United States exceeds by an unreasonable amount the price of services provided outside the United States; or

the quality of the services in the United States is substantially less than the quality of comparably priced services provided outside the United States.

“unreasonable amount”; and

“substantially less”.

comply with this section; and

be subject to the approval of the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review.

establish an expenditure or use classification to determine which contracts or change orders may be made without Board approval;

set an amount for each classification and require a unit of the State government to obtain approval of the Board if the annual dollar value of a contract and its change orders exceeds that amount; and

require a unit of the State government to establish a reporting system approved by the Board to inform the Board about contracts or change orders entered into without Board approval.

frees the Board from direct review of relatively insignificant items; but

does not impair the strong public policy favoring direct review by the Board for items that have a substantial fiscal impact.

the General Assembly; or

while the General Assembly is not in session, the Legislative Policy Committee.

establish an expenditure or use classification to determine which leases or lease renewals may be entered into without Board approval;

set an amount for each classification and require a unit to obtain approval if a lease or lease renewal exceeds that amount; and

require a unit to establish a reporting system approved by the Board to inform the Board about leases or lease renewals entered into without Board approval.

transfers ownership of the property to the lessee on or before the termination of the lease;

allows the lessee to purchase the property below fair market value or for a fixed amount;

is for a term that is 75% or more of the estimated useful economic life of the property; or

has payments with a present value that is 90% or more of the fair market value of the property.

the Capital Debt Affordability Committee has certified to the Governor and the General Assembly that the total amount of new State debt to be incurred by the lease may prudently be authorized; or

the General Assembly has approved the lease in the budget for the requesting unit.

A unit shall consult with the Department of General Services during the development phase of a project that will require an energy performance contract.

Before issuing a request for proposals for an energy performance contract, a unit shall consult with the Department of General Services and the Chief Procurement Officer.

Before approval of an energy performance contract, the Board:

The Board may:

Any guarantees required under subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph may include a requirement that the contractor furnish a bond or other assurance to the State in an appropriate amount to guarantee projected performance and that the bond or other assurance be structured so that a failure to meet guaranteed performance savings will forfeit a portion of the bond or other assurance to match the shortfall in energy savings.

§ 11–203(a)(1)(iii) of this article;

§ 11–203(a)(2) of this article;

§ 11–203(e) of this article; or

§ 11–203(g) of this article.

jewelry;

books;

artifacts;

precious metals; and

currency.

documents;

correspondence;

memoranda;

receipts;

invoices;

presentations;

audits; and

any other materials related to items (i) through (vii) of this paragraph.

be approved by the State Archivist;

be independent of the entity; and

conduct the analysis in accordance with the standards of the Society of American Archivists and the Council of State Archivists.

an inspection of each location in which the entity maintains records that may be related to the deportation of victims; and

a report submitted to the State Archivist.

a list of each location inspected and an assessment of whether the location maintains any records;

an outline and assessment of the quality of the records;

a timeline for the process to assemble the records; and

an estimated cost to assemble the records.

the initial report; and

the standards of the Society of American Archivists and the Council of State Archivists.

shall be approved by the State Archivist; and

may be the archivist and historian that conducted the initial analysis or another archivist and historian approved by the State Archivist.

review the report and determine whether, in the professional opinion of the State Archivist, the report is consistent with the standards of the Society of American Archivists and the Council of State Archivists; and

approve an archivist and historian that will ensure that the process of assembling the records is completed in a manner consistent with:

the process of assembling the records is complete;

the process of assembling the records was completed in a manner consistent with:

the information submitted under § 12–507 of this subtitle is as complete and accurate as possible; and

the entity; and

if the State Archivist determines that the entity met the requirements set forth in item (4)(i), (ii), and (iii) of this subsection, to the unit of State or local government awarding the procurement contract to provide MARC service.