Section 3002.1300  Proposed Contract Review

As required by Section 5-30 of the Code, unless the Board waives such review, certain proposed State issued contracts shall not be entered into until the Board's review of the contract during a 30-day contract review period beginning the date the notice of award or letting of the contract is published in the Illinois Procurement Bulletin.  For the purposes of this Section, the letting of the contract or the notice of award is deemed to occur on the date of publication in the Illinois Procurement Bulletin.  The Board shall use the following guidelines for conducting a review.

a)         For each contract award the Board wishes to review, it shall state its policy concern or objective in writing and whether such concern or objective relates to the particular proposed contract or another  issue under its procurement review authority.

b)         The Board shall complete conflict of interest disclosures for all matters that it identifies for review.

c)         The Board may  request the Agency to provide existing documents from its records relevant to the proposed contract and any policy determinations that guided the Agency's decision to enter into that contract. 

d)         In developing policy recommendations as part of  its review, the Board may request information from industry experts. Requests may include, but are not limited to market information, demonstration materials, analytical research, operational guidelines,  and performance data.  Until such time as the procurement process is complete and contract with the vendor signed, the Board shall obtain the written approval of the chief procurement officer before requesting information from vendors participating in the procurement process for the subject contract.  After the contract with a vendor is signed, no approval from the chief procurement officer is required for the Board to request information from the vendors participating in that procurement.  The Board shall notify the Agency of such requests, allow the Agency to provide additional information and provide the Agency with copies of any records collected in this research.

e)         As part of its review, the Board may conduct interviews, meetings, polling, or hearings to determine facts relevant to the review.  No person participating in the Board's review shall publicly disclose confidential information regarding the procurement process or contract subject to review.  The chief procurement officer may provide such confidential information to the Board upon the Board establishing appropriate procedures to safeguard the confidentiality of the information.  If the Board wishes to interview any person involved in preparing or analyzing the bid or solicitation or any person responding to such bid or solicitation, it shall first obtain written approval from the chief procurement officer.  The Board will accept written documentation provided by participants of these events and reduce to writing all other information that is provided.

f)         The Board shall make the Agency aware of its findings prior to publication in the Procurement Bulletin.  The Agency shall be given the opportunity to respond prior to the Board's final determination and publishing.

g)         The Board shall publish its final determination in an edition of the Procurement Bulletin upon conclusion of its review.

(Source:  Added at 29 Ill. Reg. 812, effective January 1, 2005)