Full Text of HR0099 98th General Assembly
HR0099 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Inmate telephone services are provided to inmates | 3 | | of corrections facilities operated by the Illinois Department | 4 | | of Corrections (Department) so inmates can communicate with | 5 | | family members, friends and legal counsel; these services are | 6 | | provided through telephone equipment placed in restricted | 7 | | areas at correctional facilities that are accessible to | 8 | | inmates; inmates are allowed to use the telephone equipment | 9 | | only for pre-paid collect or post-paid collect operator | 10 | | assisted calls with members of the public at telephones located | 11 | | outside the facilities; the family members and friends of | 12 | | inmates are responsible for paying for the calls from their | 13 | | loved ones; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The Department has no incentive to select the | 15 | | telephone company that offers the lowest rates to allow inmates | 16 | | access to telephone use; rather, the Department has an | 17 | | incentive to reap the most profit by selecting the telephone | 18 | | company that provides the highest commission; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Exorbitant telephone rates are not only bad for | 20 | | incarcerated persons and their families, but are bad for | 21 | | society at large, in that they reduce incarcerated persons' | 22 | | ability to communicate with family, while family contact has | 23 | | been consistently shown to lower recidivism; exclusive |
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| 1 | | contracts create state-sanctioned monopolies that prey upon | 2 | | people who are least able to select alternative methods of | 3 | | communication and who are least able to sustain additional | 4 | | expenses; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, It is difficult for many families of incarcerated | 6 | | persons to pay for phone calls because people in prison often | 7 | | come from low-income households; a study of people recently | 8 | | released from Illinois prisons found that the price of phone | 9 | | calls from prison was one of the two most significant barriers | 10 | | to maintaining family contact during their incarceration; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Illinois is one of 42 states in the United States | 12 | | that selects an inmate telephone service vendor based on the | 13 | | percentage of revenue the State will receive from that vendor; | 14 | | and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, The Department of Central Management Services, on | 16 | | behalf of the Department of Corrections, posted a solicitation | 17 | | for an Invitation for Bid (#12-67094) for inmate telephone | 18 | | services at all State correctional facilities in early 2012.
| 19 | | IFB 12-67094 required each bidder to submit the following: | 20 | | 1. the rate charged for each call; | 21 | | 2. the fees or surcharges charged; | 22 | | 3. the percent of revenues the bidder would pay to the | 23 | | Department of Corrections as a commission; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The bid evaluation formula was structured to award | 2 | | the highest number of points to the
bidder that submitted the | 3 | | highest commission to the Department of Corrections; the | 4 | | commission rate comprised 55% of
the points awarded in the | 5 | | solicitation; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The State has incentive to award the contract to | 7 | | the highest bidder because it receives the
largest commission | 8 | | from the highest bidder; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Three companies responded to IFB #12-67094, and on | 10 | | June 27, 2012, the Department of Central Management Services | 11 | | issued their intent to
award the contract to Securus | 12 | | Technologies, a Texas based company; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Consolidated Communications Public Services, an | 14 | | Illinois based company, is the
current provider of inmate | 15 | | telephone services for the Department of Corrections; | 16 | | Consolidated Communication Public Services has provided | 17 | | telephone
services to the Department of Corrections since 2002; | 18 | | and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Consolidated Communication Public Services filed | 20 | | a protest on May 31, 2012 with the Chief Procurement Officer of
| 21 | | General Services; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Consolidated Communication Public Services | 2 | | protest alleged that the per call rate contained in the bid
| 3 | | response submitted by Securus Technologies was above the | 4 | | Illinois Commerce Commission established caps on
rates and | 5 | | charges under 83 111 Adm. Code Sections 770.40(c) and (e); and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Chief Procurement Officer denied the protest | 7 | | and the Department of Central Management Services awarded the | 8 | | contract
to Securus Technologies. However, in the Chief | 9 | | Procurement Officer's Final Determination letter to the | 10 | | attorney for Consolidated Communication Public Services on | 11 | | June 25, 2012, the Chief Procurement Officer stated the
| 12 | | following: | 13 | | "The key inquiry here is whether the services at issue | 14 | | fall within the regulatory
jurisdiction of the Illinois | 15 | | Commerce Commission. If they do, and they are not otherwise
| 16 | | exempt, then the restrictions of Section 770 apply and the | 17 | | award must be rescinded." | 18 | | Consolidated Communication Public Services also filed a | 19 | | Verified Petition for a Declaratory Ruling with the Illinois
| 20 | | Commerce Commission on July 3, 2012; Consolidated | 21 | | Communication Public Services protest alleged that the per call | 22 | | rate
submitted by Securus Technologies above the Illinois | 23 | | Commerce Commission established caps on rates and
charges under | 24 | | 83 Ill Adm. Code Sections 770.40(c) and (e); and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Commerce Commission's Administrative | 2 | | Law Judge and Illinois Commerce Commission's Staff issued a | 3 | | recommendation to the
Commission and agreed that Securus' per | 4 | | call rate of $4.10 exceeded the rate caps
established by | 5 | | Illinois Commerce Commission rules and regulations. This | 6 | | matter is pending before the
Commission; therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 9 | | the Auditor General is directed to conduct a management audit | 10 | | of the State's procurement of inmate telephone service vendors | 11 | | for the Department of Corrections' inmate telephone service | 12 | | program; and be it further
| 13 | | RESOLVED, That the audit include, but not limited to the | 14 | | following determinations: | 15 | | Whether all aspects of the procurement process were | 16 | | conducted in accordance with
applicable laws, rules, | 17 | | regulations and policies; | 18 | | Whether the evaluative criteria guiding the selection | 19 | | by the Department of Central Management Services of vendors | 20 | | were adequate
and uniformly applied to competing vendors;
| 21 | | Whether decisions concerning the selection of vendors | 22 | | and resolution of protests are
adequately supported and | 23 | | documented;
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| 1 | | Whether the bids submitted by vendors and evaluated by | 2 | | the Department of Central Management Services were in
| 3 | | compliance with the terms set forth in the solicitation | 4 | | document;
and | 5 | | Whether or not the Department of Central Management | 6 | | Services in the course of the procurement process or | 7 | | resolution of the
protests, took into consideration the | 8 | | cost impact the solicitation might place on the family
| 9 | | members, friends and general public who are responsible for | 10 | | paying for the calls;
and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence this audit as | 12 | | soon as possible and report his findings and recommendations | 13 | | upon completion to the General Assembly.
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