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Councilmember Vincent B. Orange,
Sr.
A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA To establish, on an emergency basis, the District of Columbia Contracting and Procurement Reform Task Force, which shall be comprised of contract law experts for the purposes of improving the District of Columbia’s contracting and procurement laws and regulations; reviewing and recommending appropriate changes to the District’s procurement and ethics provisions; and reviewing best practices, nationally, in the area of contracting and procurement law to make recommended changes to the Council, subject to those reviews. BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the “District of Columbia Contracting and Procurement Reform Task Force Establishment Emergency Act of 2005”. Sec. 2. Establishment of the Contracting and Procurement Reform Task Force. There is established the Contracting and Procurement Task Force (“Task Force”). The Task Force shall perform the following duties: (1) Review the recommendations of all audit reports, relative to contracting and procurement, issued by the District of Columbia Office of the Inspector General and the Auditor of the District of Columbia, within the past 5 years; (2) Review and analyze the District of Columbia’s contracting and procurement laws and regulations; (3) Review and analyze all statutorily required reports of the District of Columbia Office Contracting and Procurement; (4) Review the Center for Innovation and Reform recommendations for improving contracting and procurement procedures in the District of Columbia; (5) Make a determination as to whether or not the Office of Contracting and Procurement and District agencies have adhered to the recommendations made by the OIG, the District of Columbia Auditor, and the Committee on Government Operations (“Committee”), relative to improving the contracting and procurement process in the District of Columbia; (6) Review the District’s ethics and disciplinary provisions concerning contracting and procurement; (7) Review the District’s contracting and procurement laws, specifically as it relates to sole source awards, no-bid contracts, task orders, oral contract agreements, direct voucher authorizations and payments, and emergency awards; and (8) Review contracting and procurement laws and regulations, nationally, for the purpose of recommending improvements to the District of Columbia’s contracting and procurement procedures. Sec. 3. Established goals. The Task Force shall consider the following goals and policy objectives when developing its Comprehensive Contracting and Procurement Reform Report: (1) Assessing and improving the District of Columbia’s contracting and procurement process; (2) Establishing appropriate laws to decrease the over-utilization of sole-source contract awards; (3) Enhance the District’s ethics and disciplinary provisions, relative to contracting and procurement; (4) Make recommendations concerning the training or required re-training of current contracting and procurement officials, within the District of Columbia government; (5) Assess the District’s utilization of emergency contract awards; (6) Make recommendations, relative to ensuring that contracting and procurement processes result in timely competition; (7) Review the District of Columbia’s utilization of task orders and make recommendations, relative to this method, and its impact on fair and open competition; (8) Make recommendations concerning the District’s contract ratification procedures and the government’s utilization of oral contracts; and (9) Reforming the District of Columbia’s contracting and procurement process, pursuant to best practices nationally. Sec. 4. Task Force Membership. The Task Force shall consist of 7 voting members and 2 non-voting members. (1) The voting members shall consist of the following: Seven contracting or procurement law experts; (2) The non-voting members shall consist of the following:
(3) Members of the Task Force shall serve without compensation. (4) The members of the Task Force shall elect a Chairperson from among (the voting members). Sec. 5. Appointment of Task Force Members. (a) The Council of the District of Columbia shall appoint 5 voting members of the Task Force. (b) The Mayor shall appoint 2 voting members of the Task Force. (c) The Task Force members shall be appointed by February 1, 2006. Sec. 6. Qualifications of Task Force Members. (a) All voting members of the Task Force shall have specialized and demonstrated legal expertise in contracting or procurement law. (b) All voting members shall have a minimum of seven years of specialized experience in contracting or procurement law. Sec. 7. Meetings. (a) The Task Force shall meet as necessary to conduct its official business. (b) A majority of the voting members shall constitute a quorum. (c) The Task Force may act by an affirmative vote of at least 5 of its voting members. Sec. 8. Powers of the Task Force. (a) All instrumentalities of the District of Columbia government shall assist the Task Force by providing requested information and documents. (b) All instrumentalities of the District of Columbia government shall be required to fully cooperate with the Task Force. Sec. 9. Report of the Task Force. (a) No later than August 1, 2005, the Task Force shall issue a report to the Council of the District of Columbia and the Mayor with its findings and recommendations for improving the contracting and procurement process in the District of Columbia. Sec. 10. Fiscal impact statement. The Council adopts the attached fiscal impact statement as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat.813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(3)). Sec. 11. Effective date. This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), and shall remain in effect for no longer than 90 days, as provided for emergency acts of the Council of the District of Columbia in section 412(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 788; D.C. Official Code § 1-204.12(a)). |
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