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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The Governmental Joint Purchasing Act authorizes
3 governmental units to purchase personal property, supplies,
4 and services jointly with one or more other governmental units
5 through a competitive bid process; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The Governmental Joint Purchasing Act provides
7 that when the State of Illinois is a party to the joint
8 purchase agreement, the Illinois Department of Central
9 Management Services ("CMS") shall conduct the letting of bids;
10 and
 
11     WHEREAS, On June 20, 2008, CMS issued Solicitation No.
12 222600 (the "Original Solicitation") requesting bids for bulk
13 rock salt to be used for ice control by the Department of
14 Transportation, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority,
15 other State agencies, and over 700 units of local government in
16 98 counties statewide (the "pool participants"); and
 
17     WHEREAS, Responses to the Original Solicitation were due on
18 July 16, 2008; responses were submitted by four vendors, but
19 none of the responses received by CMS for the Original
20 Solicitation contained bids for the salt requirements for the
21 majority of the pool participants located in Cook County, or
22 for any of the pool participants located in Lake or McHenry

 

 

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1 County; and
 
2     WHEREAS, On July 25, 2008, CMS issued Solicitation No.
3 223231, a Supplemental Re-bid seeking bids for the salt
4 requirements of the pool participants in Cook, Lake, and
5 McHenry County (the "Re-bid"); and
 
6     WHEREAS, Responses to the Re-bid were due on August 12,
7 2008; responses to the Re-bid were submitted by three vendors,
8 but all of the vendors responded to the Original Solicitation
9 and limited their bids to the pool participants in Cook County;
10 and
 
11     WHEREAS, On August 19, 2008, CMS advised the pool
12 participants in Lake and McHenry County that, if they wished
13 CMS to continue efforts to procure salt for them, they would
14 have to commit to a price per ton in the range of $145 to $165;
15 and
 
16     WHEREAS, On August 21, 2008, CMS awarded contracts in a
17 total amount of $182,293,805.48 to the four vendors that
18 responded to the Original Solicitation, notwithstanding the
19 vendors' failure to submit bids for the salt requirements of
20 the pool participants in Cook, Lake, and McHenry County; and
 
21     WHEREAS, On August 28, 2008, certain pool participants in

 

 

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1 Lake and McHenry County submitted a bid protest, claiming,
2 pursuant to the Governmental Joint Purchasing Act and the
3 Illinois Procurement Code, and the rules promulgated
4 thereunder that: (1) the proposals submitted in response to the
5 Original Solicitation were materially incomplete due to their
6 failure to provide bids for the salt requirements of all
7 governmental units participating in the joint procurement; (2)
8 CMS should have rejected the bids as non-responsive; and (3)
9 CMS should conduct an investigation into the bidding activities
10 of the responding vendors to ensure that the vendors complied
11 with all applicable State laws; and
 
12     WHEREAS, On August 29, 2008, CMS awarded $19,564,788.68 in
13 contracts to two of the three vendors responding to the Re-bid,
14 notwithstanding their failure to submit a bid for the salt
15 requirements of the pool participants in Lake and McHenry
16 County in either the Original Solicitation or the Re-Bid; and
 
17     WHEREAS, On September 4, 2008, CMS issued a no-bid,
18 emergency purchase award in the amount of $8,597,382.32 to one
19 of the vendors that had received an award under the Original
20 Solicitation and submitted a response to the Re-bid, but had
21 not submitted a price for pool participants in Lake or McHenry
22 County in either solicitation; and
 
23     WHEREAS, Information in the press indicates that certain

 

 

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1 local governments not participating in the joint procurement,
2 but located in geographic proximately to certain pool
3 participants, were able to obtain bulk rock salt at more
4 competitive prices than the pool participants; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Because a sealed bid process was used by CMS, bid
6 documents are not accessible, and CMS has not provided
7 information that would explain the price fluctuations for rock
8 salt within and outside of the joint purchasing pool;
9 therefore, be it
 
10     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
11 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
12 the Auditor General is directed pursuant to Section 3-2 of the
13 Illinois State Auditing Act to conduct an audit of CMS'
14 decisions relating to the joint purchasing procurements of bulk
15 rock salt to determine whether good procurement practices were
16 exercised in accordance with applicable State laws and rules;
17 and be it further
 
18     RESOLVED, That the Auditor General is authorized pursuant
19 to Section 3-2 of the Illinois State Auditing Act to review,
20 determine, and publicly report on whether CMS' activities and
21 decisions in connection with the joint procurement of rock salt
22 were in the best interests of the State and participating units
23 of local government; and be it further
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence this audit as
2 soon as possible and report his findings and recommendations
3 upon completion in accordance with the Illinois State Auditing
4 Act; and be it further
 
5     RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be delivered to
6 the Auditor General, the Governor, and the Director of Central
7 Management Services.