Urge the House Appropriations Committee to VOTE NO on SB 515 – Procurements for Construction or Repair of School Projects
To voice your opposition to SB 515 – Use these links to the Appropriations Committee and the Appropriations Committee Roster.
Members of the House should oppose Senate Bill 515 to protect the use of cooperative purchasing by school systems for school facility projects.25,000 in state capital funding should not bar the use of intergovernmental cooperative purchasing, or piggybacking, for school construction projects.
- $25,000 in state capital funding should not bar the use of intergovernmental cooperative purchasing, or piggybacking, for school construction projects.
- This bill would significantly disrupt school system procurement practices – and overturn settled Court of Appeals case law.
- Board of Public Works regulations clearly allow “intergovernmental cooperative purchasing” and “piggybacking” to provide cost benefits, administrative efficiencies, and promote governmental cooperation (COMAR 23.03.03.12).
- This bill would interfere with school system efforts to achieve cost savings and efficiencies.
- Large and small school systems rely on piggybacking to save time and money and benefit from the staff work done in another system.
- Taxpayers benefit from the cost savings school systems are achieving under the current law.
Urge delegates to protect the use of cooperative purchasing and VOTE NO on Senate Bill 515.
To voice your opposition to SB 515 – Use these links to the Appropriations Committee and the Appropriations Committee Roster.
Background
This bill passed the Senate only after a very contentious floor debate. Senators from Prince George’s County, Baltimore City, Harford County and Cecil County offered amendments to be exempted from the bill. While none of the amendments were adopted, the votes were close, and it demonstrated strong opposition to this bill as it crosses over to the House. Now is the time to lobby members of the House, specifically members of the Appropriations Committee, to oppose passage of this Senate bill.
MABE opposes Senate Bill 515 because it would prohibit the use of cooperative purchasing or piggybacking on other government contracts for the purchase of materialsrelated to school construction or repair projects. The prohibition would apply to all projects for which state funding of more than $25,000 is provided in the state capital budget.
In 2015 and prior sessions MABE joined the Baltimore County Board of Education in opposing a local bill to prohibit the purchase of roofing repair services for public schools through an intergovernmental purchasing cooperative. Importantly, the Maryland Court of Appeals had already ruled in favor of the Baltimore County Board of Education, finding that a county board of education may purchase roofing repair services for public schools through an intergovernmental purchasing cooperative when it acts pursuant to authority granted by the Board of Public Works in its regulations.
For more information, contact MABE’s Director of Governmental Relations, John R. Woolums at jwoolums@mabe.org or 410-841-5414.