With certain exceptions, the State Purchasing Act governs the purchasing of services, supplies, materials and equipment by agencies of the Executive Department of the State Government, which are known as using agencies under the Act. (Chapter 333 of NRS) Unless the Administrator of the Purchasing Division of the Department of Administration is responsible for administering the contract, each proposal received for a request for a contract of a using agency under the Act is required under existing law to be evaluated by the chief of the using agency, or a committee appointed by the chief of the using agency. Under existing law, the chief of the using agency or the committee, if appointed, is required to: (1) consider and assign a score for each factor disclosed in the request for proposals; and (2) award the contract based on the total assigned scores. (NRS 333.335) Existing law also creates the Board of the Public Employees' Benefits Program and requires the Board to establish the Public Employees' Benefits Program to provide a program of group life, accident or health insurance for the benefit of state officers and employees and other authorized participants. (NRS 287.041, 287.043) Under existing law, the Program is subject to the provisions of the State Purchasing Act and the Board is required to act as the chief of the using agency for the purposes of the evaluation of proposals for and award of contracts of the Program under the Act. (NRS 287.04345) Because the Board is a public body subject to the Open Meeting Law, existing law addresses the compliance of the Board with the Open Meeting Law when the Board is carrying out its duty as chief of the using agency, including requiring the Board to review the results of any evaluation of proposals for a contract in a closed meeting and to award the contract or cancel or modify and reissue the request for proposals in an open meeting. (NRS 241.015, 287.04345) This bill: (1) transfers the duty to act as the chief of the using agency for the Program from the Board to the Executive Officer of the Program; and (2) as a result of the transfer of this duty, eliminates the requirements in existing law relating to the exercise of this duty by the Board under the Open Meeting Law. If a committee to evaluate proposals for a contract of the Program is appointed under existing law, the committee is: (1) required to consist of not less than two members; and (2) authorized to include any number of the members of the Board. (NRS 287.04345, 333.335) This bill requires the appointment of a minimum of one member of the Board to such an evaluation committee, if established.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 287.04345
BDR: 287.04345