27-104-7 - Creation of public procurement review board; quorum; meetings; support personnel; powers and duties [Paragraph (2)(e) repealed on July 1, 2010]. - Mississippi Statutes

§ 27-104-7. Creation of public procurement review board; quorum; meetings; support personnel; powers and duties [Paragraph (2)(e) repealed on July 1, 2010].
 

(1)  There is hereby created within the Department of Finance and Administration the Public Procurement Review Board, which shall be composed of the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration, the head of the Office of Budget and Policy Development and an employee of the Office of General Services who is familiar with the purchasing laws of this state. The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration 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. Two (2) members shall be a quorum. No action shall be valid unless approved by the chairman and one (1) other of those members present and voting, entered upon the minutes of the board and signed by the chairman. The board shall meet on a monthly basis and at any other time when notified by the chairman. Necessary clerical and administrative support for the board shall be provided by the Department of Finance and Administration. 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. 

(2)  The Public Procurement Review Board shall have the following powers and responsibilities: 

(a) Approve all purchasing regulations governing the purchase or lease by any agency, as defined in Section 31-7-1, of commodities and equipment, except computer equipment acquired pursuant to Sections 25-53-1 through 25-53-29; 

(b) Adopt regulations governing the approval of contracts let for the construction and maintenance of state buildings and other state facilities; 

(c) Adopt regulations governing any lease or rental agreement by any state agency or department, including any state agency financed entirely by federal funds, for space outside the buildings under the jurisdiction of the Department of Finance and Administration; 

(d) Adopt, in its discretion, regulations to set aside at least five percent (5%) of anticipated annual expenditures for the purchase of commodities from minority businesses; however, all such set-aside purchases shall comply with all purchasing regulations promulgated by the department and shall be subject to all bid requirements. Set-aside purchases for which competitive bids are required shall be made from the lowest and best minority business bidder; however, if no minority bid is available or if the minority bid is more than two percent (2%) higher than the lowest bid, then bids shall be accepted and awarded to the lowest and best bidder. Provided, however, that the provisions herein shall not be construed to prohibit the rejection of a bid when only one (1) bid is received. Such rejection shall be placed in the minutes. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "minority business" means a business which is owned by a person who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who is: 

(i) Black: having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. 

(ii) Hispanic: of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin regardless of race. 

(iii) Asian American: having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. 

(iv) American Indian or Alaskan Native: having origins in any of the original peoples of North America. 

(v) Female; 

(e) In consultation with and approval by the Chairmen of the Senate and House Public Property Committees, approve leases, for a term not to exceed eighteen (18) months, entered into by state agencies for the purpose of providing parking arrangements for state employees who work in the Woolfolk Building, the Carroll Gartin Justice Building or the Walter Sillers Office Building. The provisions of this paragraph (e) shall stand repealed on July 1, 2010. 

(3)  No member of the Public Procurement 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 public construction under this chapter. 
 

Sources: Laws,  1984, ch. 488, § 77; Laws, 1988 Ex Sess, ch. 14, § 69; Laws, 1989, ch. 532, § 55; Laws, 1989, ch. 544, § 13; Laws, 1990, ch. 522, § 3; Laws, 2005, ch. 504, § 2; Laws, 2006, ch. 457, § 1, eff from and after July 1, 2006.