Under existing law, the state procurement code governs all purchases made by government entities, except district attorneys and sheriffs, whose purchases are governed by local competitive bid laws. This bill would provide that volunteer fire departments and rescue squads are also governed by local competitive bid laws. Under existing law, a prospective bidder or offeror may protest the offering of a competitive bid contract by submitting a notice of protest within 14 days of the offering. This bill would revise the deadline for filing a notice of protest from 14 to 5 days. This bill would provide that the protest procedures are not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act. Under existing law, any person that submits a contract, a contract proposal, a bid, or a grant proposal to the state in an amount equal to or greater than $5,000 and for the purpose of financial gain is required to include a disclosure statement for each contract, contract proposal, bid, or grant proposal that it submits, subject to certain exceptions. A disclosure statement must provide certain information about individuals who may gain financial benefit from their relationships with the person submitting the contract, contract proposal, bid, or grant proposal. This bill would revise the threshold for which a disclosure statement is required, would allow the use of alternative disclosure statement forms, and would allow the submission of a single annual disclosure statement for multiple proposals with the same state agency, department, or division. This bill would allow for an alternative method of certifying the authenticity of a disclosure statement. Also, under existing law, public contracts for gas, water, or electric services are exempt from the requirement to submit a disclosure statement. This bill would also exempt from having to submit a disclosure statement those public contracts with publicly traded companies and awards of economic development incentives.