Full Text of HR1579 95th General Assembly
HR1579 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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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| County; and
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| 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
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| 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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| 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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| 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
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 11 |
| NINETY-FIFTH 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
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| 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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| 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.
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