The State Purchasing Act governs the purchasing of services, supplies, materials and equipment by agencies of the Executive Department of the State Government, with certain exceptions. (Chapter 333 of NRS) The Act, with certain exceptions, provides for the granting of an advantage, known as a preference, of 5 percent to a bid or proposal submitted for such a state purchasing contract by: (1) a Nevada-based business, which is defined in the Act as a business which certifies that its principal place of business is in Nevada or the majority of goods provided for in the contract are produced in Nevada; or (2) a Nevada-based business that is owned and operated by a veteran with a specified service-connected disability, which is defined in the Act as a “local business owned and operated by a veteran with a service-connected disability.” (NRS 333.3352, 333.3354, 333.3362-333.3366) The Act prohibits the combination of these preferences with each other or any other purchasing preference. (NRS 333.3354, 333.3366) Sections 2 and 3 of this bill eliminate the prohibition against the combination of the preference for a Nevada-based business and the preference for a local business owned and operated by a veteran with a service-connected disability, thereby providing for a combined preference of 10 percent for a bid or proposal for a state purchasing contract submitted by a business that meets the requirements for both of those preferences. The State Purchasing Act imposes an inverse preference on a bid or proposal for a purchasing contract with the State of Nevada submitted by a person who has a principal place of business in another state if, for a similar contract, the other state: (1) grants a preference to a person with a principal place of business in that state; and (2) denies that preference to a person with a principal place of business in the State of Nevada. This inverse preference is an amount that is substantially equivalent to the preference that is denied by the other state to a person with a principal place of business in the State of Nevada. (NRS 333.33695) Section 5 of this bill eliminates this inverse preference. Sections 1-4 of this bill make conforming changes by removing references to the inverse preference that was eliminated by section 5.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 333.310, 333.3354, 333.3366, 333.340, 333.33695
BDR: 333.310, 333.3354, 333.3366, 333.340, 333.33695