Student assessments; authorize the State Board of Education to procure contracts for in compliance with state procurement laws and regs.

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To: Education;
Accountability, Efficiency,
Transparency
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative McCarty

HOUSE BILL NO. 1203

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-104-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO PROVIDE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION WITH FULL AUTHORITY TO 2
PROCURE CONTRACTS FOR STUDENT ASSESSMENTS IN COMPLIANCE WITH STATE 3
PROCUREMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 5
SECTION 1. Section 27-104-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 6
amended as follows: 7
27-104-7. (1) (a) There is created the Public Procurement 8
Review Board, which shall be reconstituted on January 1, 2018, and 9
shall be composed of the following members: 10
(i) Three (3) individuals appointed by the 11
Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; 12
(ii) Two (2) individuals appointed by the 13
Lieutenant Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; and 14
(iii) The Executive Director of the Department of 15
Finance and Administration, serving as an ex officio and nonvoting 16
member. 17
(b) The initial terms of each appointee shall be as 18
follows: 19
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(i) One (1) member appointed by the Governor to 20
serve for a term ending on June 30, 2019; 21
(ii) One (1) member appointed by the Governor to 22
serve for a term ending on June 30, 2020; 23
(iii) One (1) member appointed by the Governor to 24
serve for a term ending on June 30, 2021; 25
(iv) One (1) member appointed by the Lieutenant 26
Governor to serve for a term ending on June 30, 2019; and 27
(v) One (1) member appointed by the Lieutenant 28
Governor to serve for a term ending on June 30, 2020. 29
After the expiration of the initial terms, all appointed 30
members' terms shall be for a period of four (4) years from the 31
expiration date of the previous term, and until such time as the 32
member's successor is duly appointed and qualified. 33
(c) When appointing members to the Public Procurement 34
Review Board, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall take into 35
consideration persons who possess at least five (5) years of 36
management experience in general business, health care or finance 37
for an organization, corporation or other public or private 38
entity. Any person, or any employee or owner of a company, who 39
receives any grants, procurements or contracts that are subject to 40
approval under this section shall not be appointed to the Public 41
Procurement Review Board. Any person, or any employee or owner of 42
a company, who is a principal of the source providing a personal 43
or professional service shall not be appointed to the Public 44
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Procurement Review Board if the principal owns or controls a 45
greater than five percent (5%) interest or has an ownership value 46
of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) in the source's business, 47
whichever is smaller. No member shall be an officer or employee 48
of the State of Mississippi while serving as a voting member on 49
the Public Procurement Review Board. 50
(d) Members of the Public Procurement Review Board 51
shall be entitled to per diem as authorized by Section 25-3-69 and 52
travel reimbursement as authorized by Section 25-3-41. 53
(e) The members of the Public Procurement Review Board 54
shall elect a chair from among the membership, and he or she shall 55
preside over the meetings of the board. The board shall annually 56
elect a vice chair, who shall serve in the absence of the chair. 57
No business shall be transacted, including adoption of rules of 58
procedure, without the presence of a quorum of the board. Three 59
(3) members shall be a quorum. No action shall be valid unless 60
approved by a majority of the members present and voting, entered 61
upon the minutes of the board and signed by the chair. Necessary 62
clerical and administrative support for the board shall be 63
provided by the Department of Finance and Administration. Minutes 64
shall be kept of the proceedings of each meeting, copies of which 65
shall be filed on a monthly basis with the chairs of the 66
Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committees of the 67
Senate and House of Representatives and the chairs of the 68
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Appropriations Committees of the Senate and House of 69
Representatives. 70
(2) The Public Procurement Review Board shall have the 71
following powers and responsibilities: 72
(a) Approve all purchasing regulations governing the 73
purchase or lease by any agency, as defined in Section 31-7-1, of 74
commodities and equipment, except computer equipment acquired 75
pursuant to Sections 25-53-1 through 25-53-29; 76
(b) Adopt regulations governing the approval of 77
contracts let for the construction and maintenance of state 78
buildings and other state facilities as well as related contracts 79
for architectural and engineering services. 80
The provisions of this paragraph (b) shall not apply to such 81
contracts involving buildings and other facilities of state 82
institutions of higher learning which are self-administered as 83
provided under this paragraph (b) or Section 37-101-15(m); 84
(c) Adopt regulations governing any lease or rental 85
agreement by any state agency or department, including any state 86
agency financed entirely by federal funds, for space outside the 87
buildings under the jurisdiction of the Department of Finance and 88
Administration. These regulations shall require each agency 89
requesting to lease such space to provide the following 90
information that shall be published by the Department of Finance 91
and Administration on its website: the agency to lease the space; 92
the terms of the lease; the approximate square feet to be leased; 93
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the use for the space; a description of a suitable space; the 94
general location desired for the leased space; the contact 95
information for a person from the agency; the deadline date for 96
the agency to have received a lease proposal; any other specific 97
terms or conditions of the agency; and any other information 98
deemed appropriate by the Division of Real Property Management of 99
the Department of Finance and Administration or the Public 100
Procurement Review Board. The information shall be provided 101
sufficiently in advance of the time the space is needed to allow 102
the Division of Real Property Management of the Department of 103
Finance and Administration to review and preapprove the lease 104
before the time for advertisement begins; 105
(d) Adopt, in its discretion, regulations to set aside 106
at least five percent (5%) of anticipated annual expenditures for 107
the purchase of commodities from minority businesses; however, all 108
such set-aside purchases shall comply with all purchasing 109
regulations promulgated by the department and shall be subject to 110
all bid requirements. Set-aside purchases for which competitive 111
bids are required shall be made from the lowest and best minority 112
business bidder; however, if no minority bid is available or if 113
the minority bid is more than two percent (2%) higher than the 114
lowest bid, then bids shall be accepted and awarded to the lowest 115
and best bidder. However, the provisions in this paragraph shall 116
not be construed to prohibit the rejection of a bid when only one 117
(1) bid is received. Such rejection shall be placed in the 118
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minutes. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "minority 119
business" means a business which is owned by a person who is a 120
citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who 121
is: 122
(i) Black: having origins in any of the black 123
racial groups of Africa; 124
(ii) Hispanic: of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, 125
Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture 126
or origin regardless of race; 127
(iii) Asian-American: having origins in any of 128
the original people of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian 129
subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands; 130
(iv) American Indian or Alaskan Native: having 131
origins in any of the original people of North America; or 132
(v) Female; 133
(e) In consultation with and approval by the Chairs of 134
the Senate and House Public Property Committees, approve leases, 135
for a term not to exceed eighteen (18) months, entered into by 136
state agencies for the purpose of providing parking arrangements 137
for state employees who work in the Woolfolk Building, the Carroll 138
Gartin Justice Building or the Walter Sillers Office Building; 139
(f) (i) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph 140
(ii) of this paragraph, promulgate rules and regulations governing 141
the solicitation and selection of contractual services personnel, 142
including personal and professional services contracts for any 143
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form of consulting, policy analysis, public relations, marketing, 144
public affairs, legislative advocacy services or any other 145
contract that the board deems appropriate for oversight, with the 146
exception of: 147
1. Any personal service contracts entered 148
into by any agency that employs only nonstate service employees as 149
defined in Section 25-9-107(c); 150
2. Any personal service contracts entered 151
into for computer or information technology-related services 152
governed by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology 153
Services; 154
3. Any personal service contracts entered 155
into by the individual state institutions of higher learning; 156
4. Any personal service contracts entered 157
into by the Mississippi Department of Transportation; 158
5. Any personal service contracts entered 159
into by the Department of Human Services through June 30, 2019, 160
which the Executive Director of the Department of Human Services 161
determines would be useful in establishing and operating the 162
Department of Child Protection Services; 163
6. Any personal service contracts entered 164
into by the Department of Child Protection Services through June 165
30, 2019; 166
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7. Any contracts for entertainers and/or 167
performers at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds entered into by 168
the Mississippi Fair Commission; 169
8. Any contracts entered into by the 170
Department of Finance and Administration when procuring aircraft 171
maintenance, parts, equipment and/or services; 172
9. Any contract entered into by the 173
Department of Public Safety for service on specialized equipment 174
and/or software required for the operation of such specialized 175
equipment for use by the Office of Forensics Laboratories; 176
10. Any personal or professional service 177
contract entered into by the Mississippi Department of Health or 178
the Department of Revenue solely in connection with their 179
respective responsibilities under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis 180
Act from February 2, 2022, through June 30, 2026; 181
11. Any contract for attorney, accountant, 182
actuary auditor, architect, engineer, anatomical pathologist, or 183
utility rate expert services; 184
12. Any personal service contracts approved 185
by the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and 186
Administration and entered into by the Coordinator of Mental 187
Health Accessibility through June 30, 2022; 188
13. Any personal or professional services 189
contract entered into by the State Department of Health in 190
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carrying out its responsibilities under the ARPA Rural Water 191
Associations Infrastructure Grant Program through June 30, 2026; 192
14. And any personal or professional services 193
contract entered into by the Mississippi Department of 194
Environmental Quality in carrying out its responsibilities under 195
the Mississippi Municipality and County Water Infrastructure Grant 196
Program Act of 2022, through June 30, 2026; 197
15. Any personal or professional services 198
contract entered into by an agency for the design, operation or 199
maintenance of museum exhibits. An agency making a purchase under 200
this exemption shall publicly advertise a Request for 201
Qualifications but shall be otherwise exempt. Any contracts 202
arising from the use of this exemption must be approved by the 203
Public Procurement Review Board prior to execution by the agency; 204
16. Any personal or professional services 205
contract entered into by the Mississippi Department of 206
Environmental Quality in carrying out its responsibilities under 207
Section 49-2-13(l). This item 16 shall stand repealed on July 1, 208
2028; and 209
17. Any contract entered into by the State 210
Department of Health for service on specialized equipment and/or 211
software required for the operation of such specialized equipment 212
for the use by the Public Health Laboratory. 213
Any such rules and regulations shall provide for maintaining 214
continuous internal audit covering the activities of such agency 215
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affecting its revenue and expenditures as required under Section 216
7-7-3(6)(d). Any rules and regulation changes related to personal 217
and professional services contracts that the Public Procurement 218
Review Board may propose shall be submitted to the Chairs of the 219
Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committees of the 220
Senate and House of Representatives and the Chairs of the 221
Appropriation Committees of the Senate and House of 222
Representatives at least fifteen (15) days before the board votes 223
on the proposed changes, and those rules and regulation changes, 224
if adopted, shall be promulgated in accordance with the 225
Mississippi Administrative Procedures Act. 226
(ii) From and after July 1, 2024, the Public 227
Procurement Review Board shall promulgate rules and regulations 228
that require the Department of Finance and Administration to 229
conduct personal and professional services solicitations as 230
provided in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph for those services 231
in excess of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) for the 232
Department of Marine Resources, the Department of Wildlife, 233
Fisheries and Parks, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency 234
and the Mississippi Development Authority, with assistance to be 235
provided from these entities. Any powers that have been conferred 236
upon agencies in order to comply with the provisions of this 237
section for personal and professional services solicitations shall 238
be conferred upon the Department of Finance and Administration to 239
conduct personal and professional services solicitations for the 240
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Department of Marine Resources, the Department of Wildlife, 241
Fisheries and Parks, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency 242
and the Mississippi Development Authority for those services in 243
excess of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00). The 244
Department of Finance and Administration shall make any 245
submissions that are required to be made by other agencies to the 246
Public Procurement Review Board for the Department of Marine 247
Resources, the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the 248
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi 249
Development Authority. 250
The provisions of this subparagraph (ii) shall stand repealed 251
on June 30, 2027; 252
(g) Approve all personal and professional services 253
contracts involving the expenditures of funds in excess of 254
Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00), except as provided in 255
paragraph (f) of this subsection (2) and in subsection (8); 256
(h) Develop mandatory standards with respect to 257
contractual services personnel that require invitations for public 258
bid, requests for proposals, record keeping and financial 259
responsibility of contractors. The Public Procurement Review 260
Board shall, unless exempted under this paragraph (h) or under 261
paragraph (i) or (o) of this subsection (2), require the agency 262
involved to submit the procurement to a competitive procurement 263
process, and may reserve the right to reject any or all resulting 264
procurements; 265
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(i) Prescribe certain circumstances by which agency 266
heads may enter into contracts for personal and professional 267
services without receiving prior approval from the Public 268
Procurement Review Board. The Public Procurement Review Board may 269
establish a preapproved list of providers of various personal and 270
professional services for set prices with which state agencies may 271
contract without bidding or prior approval from the board; 272
(i) Agency requirements may be fulfilled by 273
procuring services performed incident to the state's own programs. 274
The agency head shall determine in writing whether the price 275
represents a fair market value for the services. When the 276
procurements are made from other governmental entities, the 277
private sector need not be solicited; however, these contracts 278
shall still be submitted for approval to the Public Procurement 279
Review Board. 280
(ii) Contracts between two (2) state agencies, 281
both under Public Procurement Review Board purview, shall not 282
require Public Procurement Review Board approval. However, the 283
contracts shall still be entered into the enterprise resource 284
planning system; 285
(j) Provide standards for the issuance of requests for 286
proposals, the evaluation of proposals received, consideration of 287
costs and quality of services proposed, contract negotiations, the 288
administrative monitoring of contract performance by the agency 289
and successful steps in terminating a contract; 290
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(k) Present recommendations for governmental 291
privatization and to evaluate privatization proposals submitted by 292
any state agency; 293
(l) Authorize personal and professional service 294
contracts to be effective for more than one (1) year provided a 295
funding condition is included in any such multiple year contract, 296
except the State Board of Education, which shall have the 297
authority to enter into contractual agreements for student 298
assessment for a period up to ten (10) years * * *, provided that 299
all such contracts comply with all applicable state procurement 300
laws and regulations; 301
(m) Request the State Auditor to conduct a performance 302
audit on any personal or professional service contract; 303
(n) Prepare an annual report to the Legislature 304
concerning the issuance of personal and professional services 305
contracts during the previous year, collecting any necessary 306
information from state agencies in making such report; 307
(o) Develop and implement the following standards and 308
procedures for the approval of any sole source contract for 309
personal and professional services regardless of the value of the 310
procurement: 311
(i) For the purposes of this paragraph (o), the 312
term "sole source" means only one (1) source is available that can 313
provide the required personal or professional service. 314
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(ii) An agency that has been issued a binding, 315
valid court order mandating that a particular source or provider 316
must be used for the required service must include a copy of the 317
applicable court order in all future sole source contract reviews 318
for the particular personal or professional service referenced in 319
the court order. 320
(iii) Any agency alleging to have a sole source 321
for any personal or professional service, other than those 322
exempted under paragraph (f) of this subsection (2) and subsection 323
(8), shall publish on the procurement portal website established 324
by Sections 25-53-151 and 27-104-165, for at least fourteen (14) 325
days, the terms of the proposed contract for those services. In 326
addition, the publication shall include, but is not limited to, 327
the following information: 328
1. The personal or professional service 329
offered in the contract; 330
2. An explanation of why the personal or 331
professional service is the only one that can meet the needs of 332
the agency; 333
3. An explanation of why the source is the 334
only person or entity that can provide the required personal or 335
professional service; 336
4. An explanation of why the amount to be 337
expended for the personal or professional service is reasonable; 338
and 339
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5. The efforts that the agency went through 340
to obtain the best possible price for the personal or professional 341
service. 342
(iv) If any person or entity objects and proposes 343
that the personal or professional service published under 344
subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph (o) is not a sole source 345
service and can be provided by another person or entity, then the 346
objecting person or entity shall notify the Public Procurement 347
Review Board and the agency that published the proposed sole 348
source contract with a detailed explanation of why the personal or 349
professional service is not a sole source service. 350
(v) 1. If the agency determines after review that 351
the personal or professional service in the proposed sole source 352
contract can be provided by another person or entity, then the 353
agency must withdraw the sole source contract publication from the 354
procurement portal website and submit the procurement of the 355
personal or professional service to an advertised competitive bid 356
or selection process. 357
2. If the agency determines after review that 358
there is only one (1) source for the required personal or 359
professional service, then the agency may appeal to the Public 360
Procurement Review Board. The agency has the burden of proving 361
that the personal or professional service is only provided by one 362
(1) source. 363
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3. If the Public Procurement Review Board has 364
any reasonable doubt as to whether the personal or professional 365
service can only be provided by one (1) source, then the agency 366
must submit the procurement of the personal or professional 367
service to an advertised competitive bid or selection process. No 368
action taken by the Public Procurement Review Board in this appeal 369
process shall be valid unless approved by a majority of the 370
members of the Public Procurement Review Board present and voting. 371
(vi) The Public Procurement Review Board shall 372
prepare and submit a quarterly report to the House of 373
Representatives and Senate Accountability, Efficiency and 374
Transparency Committees that details the sole source contracts 375
presented to the Public Procurement Review Board and the reasons 376
that the Public Procurement Review Board approved or rejected each 377
contract. These quarterly reports shall also include the 378
documentation and memoranda required in subsection (4) of this 379
section. An agency that submitted a sole source contract shall be 380
prepared to explain the sole source contract to each committee by 381
December 15 of each year upon request by the committee; 382
(p) Assess any fines and administrative penalties 383
provided for in Sections 31-7-401 through 31-7-423. 384
(3) All submissions shall be made sufficiently in advance of 385
each monthly meeting of the Public Procurement Review Board as 386
prescribed by the Public Procurement Review Board. If the Public 387
Procurement Review Board rejects any contract submitted for review 388
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or approval, the Public Procurement Review Board shall clearly set 389
out the reasons for its action, including, but not limited to, the 390
policy that the agency has violated in its submitted contract and 391
any corrective actions that the agency may take to amend the 392
contract to comply with the rules and regulations of the Public 393
Procurement Review Board. 394
(4) All sole source contracts for personal and professional 395
services awarded by state agencies, other than those exempted 396
under Section 27-104-7(2)(f) and (8), whether approved by an 397
agency head or the Public Procurement Review Board, shall contain 398
in the procurement file a written determination for the approval, 399
using a request form furnished by the Public Procurement Review 400
Board. The written determination shall document the basis for the 401
determination, including any market analysis conducted in order to 402
ensure that the service required was practicably available from 403
only one (1) source. A memorandum shall accompany the request 404
form and address the following four (4) points: 405
(a) Explanation of why this service is the only service 406
that can meet the needs of the purchasing agency; 407
(b) Explanation of why this vendor is the only 408
practicably available source from which to obtain this service; 409
(c) Explanation of why the price is considered 410
reasonable; and 411
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(d) Description of the efforts that were made to 412
conduct a noncompetitive negotiation to get the best possible 413
price for the taxpayers. 414
(5) In conjunction with the State Personnel Board, the 415
Public Procurement Review Board shall develop and promulgate rules 416
and regulations to define the allowable legal relationship between 417
contract employees and the contracting departments, agencies and 418
institutions of state government under the jurisdiction of the 419
State Personnel Board, in compliance with the applicable rules and 420
regulations of the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for 421
federal employment tax purposes. Under these regulations, the 422
usual common law rules are applicable to determine and require 423
that such worker is an independent contractor and not an employee, 424
requiring evidence of lawful behavioral control, lawful financial 425
control and lawful relationship of the parties. Any state 426
department, agency or institution shall only be authorized to 427
contract for personnel services in compliance with those 428
regulations. 429
(6) No member of the Public Procurement Review Board shall 430
use his or her official authority or influence to coerce, by 431
threat of discharge from employment, or otherwise, the purchase of 432
commodities, the contracting for personal or professional 433
services, or the contracting for public construction under this 434
chapter. 435
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ST: Student assessments; authorize the State
Board of Education to procure contracts for in
compliance with state procurement laws and regs.
(7) Notwithstanding any other laws or rules to the contrary, 436
the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall not be 437
applicable to the Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport. 438
(8) Nothing in this section shall impair or limit the 439
authority of the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' 440
Retirement System to enter into any personal or professional 441
services contracts directly related to their constitutional 442
obligation to manage the trust funds, including, but not limited 443
to, actuarial, custodial banks, cash management, investment 444
consultant and investment management contracts. Nothing in this 445
section shall impair or limit the authority of the State Treasurer 446
to enter into any personal or professional services contracts 447
involving the management of trust funds, including, but not 448
limited to, actuarial, custodial banks, cash management, 449
investment consultant and investment management contracts. 450
(9) Through December 31, 2026, the provisions of this 451
section related to rental agreements or leasing of real property 452
for the purpose of conducting agency business shall not apply to 453
the Office of Workforce Development created in Section 37-153-7. 454
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 455
and after July 1, 2026. 456