Procurement

History

Detailed Analysis

History

Act 57 of 1998 contains two parts. Part I is the Commonwealth Procurement Code, which is modeled after the Model Procurement Code drafted by the American Bar Association over a five year period in the mid-1970s. Part II is comprised of more general provisions, which are special purchasing laws and requirements already enacted in Pennsylvania.

Model Procurement Code

In drafting the Model Procurement Code, the American Bar Association saw the need for legislation to modernize the public purchasing processes of state and local governments to provide more efficient purchasing systems which would result in an increased return on tax dollars. The drafters of the Model Procurement Code created a highly flexible statutory framework which was easily adaptable to the needs of particular states and local governments. They created a model procurement code and not a uniform procurement code realizing that all governments need to respond to unique concerns. Hundreds of state and local officials, legislators, purchasing experts, accountants, attorneys, and members of the academic community across the country participated in the development of the Model Procurement Code. To date, 18 states (including Pennsylvania) and numerous local governments have adopted a form of the Model Procurement Code.

The Model Procurement Code also delineates a set of ethical standards which would govern all participants in the public purchasing process, both public and private. By setting out strict, but workable, ethical policy and standards it was hoped that the Model Procurement Code would significantly reduce the opportunities for unethical behavior sometimes associated with the public procurement process. Such an improvement would not only result in direct tax dollar savings, but will also increase public confidence in the purchasing system and in government generally.

Proposed Pennsylvania Legislation

The original bill which proposed the establishment of the Commonwealth Procurement Code was developed by the Joint State Government Commission and the Task Force on Commonwealth Procurement Law in 1983. The Task Force was chaired by Representative Terrence F. McVerry. An advisory committee, chaired by James M. Marsh, Esquire, assisted the Task Force.

While the Commonwealth Procurement Code, under various bill numbers, was reintroduced during the time period 1983 to 1992, it once again received serious consideration in June, 1992, when the Task Force on Government Service Efficiency, chaired by Senator Earl M. Baker, made the adoption of the Commonwealth Procurement Code one of its goals. The subcommittee on procurement, chaired by James M. Marsh, Esquire, made numerous suggested revisions to the proposed Code. Later versions of the proposed Commonwealth Procurement Code in bill form included