By Representative Golden of Lowell and Senator Panagiotakos, joint petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3200) of Thomas A. Golden, Jr., and others relative to fees charged by intermediaries procuring public contracts.  State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.    

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PETITION OF:

Thomas A. Golden, Jr.

Steven C. Panagiotakos

Kevin J. Murphy

David M. Nangle

Patrick M. Natale

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In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

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An Act relative to preserving the sanctity of chapter 30B.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1.

Chapter 30B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof, the following new section:-

Section 20.  To ensure the lowest price is made available to the commonwealth, municipalities, cities and regional buying cooperatives, no procuring agency or procurement intermediary shall charge an administrative fee exceeding the actual cost for administering a bid process.  Furthermore, no procuring agency or procurement intermediary shall promote the services or products of a vendor unless they can certify that the services or products offered are the lowest available in the commonwealth and the vendor has an existing and appropriate state, municipal or regional contract.  Promoting the services or products of a vendor shall include, but not be limited to: engaging in direct mailing, telemarketing, personal contact or advertising on behalf of a vendor or the aforementioned vendor’s services or products.