ARPA Rural Water Associations Infrastructure Grant Program; extend repealer on exemption from certain Public Procurement Review Board requirements.

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To: Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Shanks

HOUSE BILL NO. 1774

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-3-16.1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO EXTEND THE DATE OF THE REPEALER ON THE EXEMPTION FROM THE 2
APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REVIEW BOARD FOR 3
PERSONAL OR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO BY THE 4
STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH UNDER THE ARPA RURAL WATER ASSOCIATIONS 5
INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT PROGRAM; TO AMEND SECTION 27-104-7, 6
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PRECEDING 7
PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT AND TO EXTEND THE DATE OF OTHER EXEMPTIONS 8
IN THAT CODE SECTION WHICH ARE NOT RELATED TO THE ARPA RURAL WATER 9
ASSOCIATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT PROGRAM BUT WHICH ARE ALSO SET 10
TO EXPIRE IN 2026; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 11
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 12
SECTION 1. Section 41-3-16.1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 13
amended as follows: 14
41-3-16.1. (1) (a) The State Department of Health 15
(department) shall establish a grant program to be known as the 16
ARPA Rural Water Associations Infrastructure Grant Program 17
(program) to assist rural water associations and entities in the 18
construction of eligible drinking water infrastructure projects as 19
provided in the Final Rule for the Coronavirus State and Local 20
Fiscal Recovery Funds as established by the federal American 21
Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). 22
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(b) Rural water associations and any entity that 23
received funding under the ARPA Rural Water Associations 24
Infrastructure Grant Program or the Mississippi Municipality and 25
County Water Infrastructure (MCWI) Grant Program before April 14, 26
2023, shall be ineligible for additional grants under this 27
section. 28
(2) The program shall be funded from appropriations by the 29
Legislature to the department from the Coronavirus State Fiscal 30
Recovery Fund, and the department shall expend all such funds for 31
the purposes provided in subsection (1) of this section. 32
(3) The department shall obligate the funds by the deadline 33
set by the rules and guidelines of the United States Department of 34
the Treasury and will adhere to the Treasury's rules and 35
guidelines for reporting and monitoring projects funded through 36
ARPA. 37
(4) (a) The department shall develop a system for use in 38
ranking the grant applications received. The ranking system shall 39
include the following factors, at a minimum: (a) the 40
environmental impact of the proposed project; (b) the proposed 41
project's ability to address noncompliance with state/federal 42
requirements; (c) the extent to which the project promotes 43
economic development; (d) the number of people served by the 44
project (both new and existing users); (e) impacts of the proposed 45
project on disadvantaged/overburdened communities; (f) the grant 46
applicant's prior efforts to secure funding to address the 47
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proposed project's objectives; (g) the grant applicant's proposed 48
contribution of other funds or in-kind cost-sharing to the 49
proposed project; (h) the grant applicant's long-term plans for 50
the financial and physical operation and maintenance of the 51
project; and (i) the grant applicant's capacity to initiate 52
construction in a timely manner and complete the proposed project 53
by the deadline specified by rules and guidelines of the United 54
States Department of the Treasury for ARPA funds. 55
(b) For the second round of grant awards, the 56
department shall apply a greater weight to grant applications that 57
promote consolidation of separate systems. In order to receive 58
the additional weight, the systems that will consolidate shall be 59
in a proximity of each other as determined by the department. 60
(c) In addition to the points awarded under paragraph 61
(b) of this subsection, an additional ten (10) points shall be 62
added to any application with at least one (1) system that has 63
consolidated after January 1, 2018, and before application to this 64
program and is otherwise eligible under this section. 65
(5) An application for a grant under this section shall be 66
submitted at such time, be in such form, and contain such 67
information as the department prescribes. 68
(6) (a) Upon the approval of an application for a grant 69
under this section, the department shall enter into a project 70
grant agreement with each grantee to establish the terms of the 71
grant for the project, including the amount of the grant. 72
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(b) (i) For the first award of grants, the maximum 73
amount of funds that may be provided to any rural water 74
association or entity from all grants under the program is Two 75
Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,500,000.00). 76
(ii) For the second round of grant awards, the 77
maximum amount of funds that may be provided to any eligible 78
association or entity from all grants under the program is Two 79
Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00). 80
(c) Associations or entities that received funding 81
under the first round of grant awards for this program or received 82
funding in the Mississippi Municipality and County Water 83
Infrastructure Grant Program Act of 2022 are ineligible to receive 84
funding under the second round. 85
(7) With any funds appropriated to the department for the 86
program after April 1, 2024, the department shall distribute the 87
funds to projects from the second round of grant awards in the 88
order in which the applications were ranked for grants as long as 89
the department determines that the project can obligate the funds 90
by October 1, 2024, and expend the funds by December 31, 2026. 91
Where the department determines that a project cannot obligate or 92
expend the funds by the required dates, the department shall not 93
fund the project, and it shall continue from the second round of 94
grant awards in the order in which the applications were ranked 95
for grants. 96
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(8) The department shall have all powers necessary to 97
implement and administer the program. Of the funds appropriated 98
to the department for the program, not more than five percent (5%) 99
may be used by the department to cover the department's costs of 100
administering the program. 101
(9) In carrying out its responsibilities under the program, 102
for any contract under the purview of the Public Procurement 103
Review Board (PPRB), the department shall be exempt from any 104
requirement that the PPRB approve any personal or professional 105
services contracts or pre-approve any solicitation of such 106
contracts. This subsection shall stand repealed on July 1, * * * 107
2029. 108
(10) The department shall submit an annual report regarding 109
the program no later than December 31 of each year to the 110
Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House, and the Chairmen of 111
the Senate and House Appropriations Committees. 112
(11) For the purposes of this section, "entity" means: 113
(a) Any entity operating as a rural water association, 114
regardless of whether such entities were user created, were 115
initially organized not for profit, or have been granted 116
tax-exempt status under state or federal law. 117
(b) Any nonprofit water or sewer provider not owned by 118
the municipality or county and are not a Rural Water Association. 119
(c) Any entity eligible under this program shall be 120
currently operating as a not-for-profit entity. 121
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(d) "Entity" under this subsection does not include any 122
state agency. No state agency shall be eligible under this 123
program. 124
SECTION 2. Section 27-104-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 125
amended as follows: 126
27-104-7. (1) (a) There is created the Public Procurement 127
Review Board, which shall be reconstituted on January 1, 2018, and 128
shall be composed of the following members: 129
(i) Three (3) individuals appointed by the 130
Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; 131
(ii) Two (2) individuals appointed by the 132
Lieutenant Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; and 133
(iii) The Executive Director of the Department of 134
Finance and Administration, serving as an ex officio and nonvoting 135
member. 136
(b) The initial terms of each appointee shall be as 137
follows: 138
(i) One (1) member appointed by the Governor to 139
serve for a term ending on June 30, 2019; 140
(ii) One (1) member appointed by the Governor to 141
serve for a term ending on June 30, 2020; 142
(iii) One (1) member appointed by the Governor to 143
serve for a term ending on June 30, 2021; 144
(iv) One (1) member appointed by the Lieutenant 145
Governor to serve for a term ending on June 30, 2019; and 146
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(v) One (1) member appointed by the Lieutenant 147
Governor to serve for a term ending on June 30, 2020. 148
After the expiration of the initial terms, all appointed 149
members' terms shall be for a period of four (4) years from the 150
expiration date of the previous term, and until such time as the 151
member's successor is duly appointed and qualified. 152
(c) When appointing members to the Public Procurement 153
Review Board, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall take into 154
consideration persons who possess at least five (5) years of 155
management experience in general business, health care or finance 156
for an organization, corporation or other public or private 157
entity. Any person, or any employee or owner of a company, who 158
receives any grants, procurements or contracts that are subject to 159
approval under this section shall not be appointed to the Public 160
Procurement Review Board. Any person, or any employee or owner of 161
a company, who is a principal of the source providing a personal 162
or professional service shall not be appointed to the Public 163
Procurement Review Board if the principal owns or controls a 164
greater than five percent (5%) interest or has an ownership value 165
of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) in the source's business, 166
whichever is smaller. No member shall be an officer or employee 167
of the State of Mississippi while serving as a voting member on 168
the Public Procurement Review Board. 169
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(d) Members of the Public Procurement Review Board 170
shall be entitled to per diem as authorized by Section 25-3-69 and 171
travel reimbursement as authorized by Section 25-3-41. 172
(e) The members of the Public Procurement Review Board 173
shall elect a chair from among the membership, and he or she shall 174
preside over the meetings of the board. The board shall annually 175
elect a vice chair, who shall serve in the absence of the chair. 176
No business shall be transacted, including adoption of rules of 177
procedure, without the presence of a quorum of the board. Three 178
(3) members shall be a quorum. No action shall be valid unless 179
approved by a majority of the members present and voting, entered 180
upon the minutes of the board and signed by the chair. Necessary 181
clerical and administrative support for the board shall be 182
provided by the Department of Finance and Administration. Minutes 183
shall be kept of the proceedings of each meeting, copies of which 184
shall be filed on a monthly basis with the chairs of the 185
Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committees of the 186
Senate and House of Representatives and the chairs of the 187
Appropriations Committees of the Senate and House of 188
Representatives. 189
(2) The Public Procurement Review Board shall have the 190
following powers and responsibilities: 191
(a) Approve all purchasing regulations governing the 192
purchase or lease by any agency, as defined in Section 31-7-1, of 193
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commodities and equipment, except computer equipment acquired 194
pursuant to Sections 25-53-1 through 25-53-29; 195
(b) Adopt regulations governing the approval of 196
contracts let for the construction and maintenance of state 197
buildings and other state facilities as well as related contracts 198
for architectural and engineering services. 199
The provisions of this paragraph (b) shall not apply to such 200
contracts involving buildings and other facilities of state 201
institutions of higher learning which are self-administered as 202
provided under this paragraph (b) or Section 37-101-15(m); 203
(c) Adopt regulations governing any lease or rental 204
agreement by any state agency or department, including any state 205
agency financed entirely by federal funds, for space outside the 206
buildings under the jurisdiction of the Department of Finance and 207
Administration. These regulations shall require each agency 208
requesting to lease such space to provide the following 209
information that shall be published by the Department of Finance 210
and Administration on its website: the agency to lease the space; 211
the terms of the lease; the approximate square feet to be leased; 212
the use for the space; a description of a suitable space; the 213
general location desired for the leased space; the contact 214
information for a person from the agency; the deadline date for 215
the agency to have received a lease proposal; any other specific 216
terms or conditions of the agency; and any other information 217
deemed appropriate by the Division of Real Property Management of 218
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the Department of Finance and Administration or the Public 219
Procurement Review Board. The information shall be provided 220
sufficiently in advance of the time the space is needed to allow 221
the Division of Real Property Management of the Department of 222
Finance and Administration to review and preapprove the lease 223
before the time for advertisement begins; 224
(d) Adopt, in its discretion, regulations to set aside 225
at least five percent (5%) of anticipated annual expenditures for 226
the purchase of commodities from minority businesses; however, all 227
such set-aside purchases shall comply with all purchasing 228
regulations promulgated by the department and shall be subject to 229
all bid requirements. Set-aside purchases for which competitive 230
bids are required shall be made from the lowest and best minority 231
business bidder; however, if no minority bid is available or if 232
the minority bid is more than two percent (2%) higher than the 233
lowest bid, then bids shall be accepted and awarded to the lowest 234
and best bidder. However, the provisions in this paragraph shall 235
not be construed to prohibit the rejection of a bid when only one 236
(1) bid is received. Such rejection shall be placed in the 237
minutes. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "minority 238
business" means a business which is owned by a person who is a 239
citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who 240
is: 241
(i) Black: having origins in any of the black 242
racial groups of Africa; 243
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(ii) Hispanic: of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, 244
Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture 245
or origin regardless of race; 246
(iii) Asian-American: having origins in any of 247
the original people of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian 248
subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands; 249
(iv) American Indian or Alaskan Native: having 250
origins in any of the original people of North America; or 251
(v) Female; 252
(e) In consultation with and approval by the Chairs of 253
the Senate and House Public Property Committees, approve leases, 254
for a term not to exceed eighteen (18) months, entered into by 255
state agencies for the purpose of providing parking arrangements 256
for state employees who work in the Woolfolk Building, the Carroll 257
Gartin Justice Building or the Walter Sillers Office Building; 258
(f) (i) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph 259
(ii) of this paragraph, promulgate rules and regulations governing 260
the solicitation and selection of contractual services personnel, 261
including personal and professional services contracts for any 262
form of consulting, policy analysis, public relations, marketing, 263
public affairs, legislative advocacy services or any other 264
contract that the board deems appropriate for oversight, with the 265
exception of: 266
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1. Any personal service contracts entered 267
into by any agency that employs only nonstate service employees as 268
defined in Section 25-9-107(c); 269
2. Any personal service contracts entered 270
into for computer or information technology-related services 271
governed by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology 272
Services; 273
3. Any personal service contracts entered 274
into by the individual state institutions of higher learning; 275
4. Any personal service contracts entered 276
into by the Mississippi Department of Transportation; 277
5. Any personal service contracts entered 278
into by the Department of Human Services through June 30, 2019, 279
which the Executive Director of the Department of Human Services 280
determines would be useful in establishing and operating the 281
Department of Child Protection Services; 282
6. Any personal service contracts entered 283
into by the Department of Child Protection Services through June 284
30, 2019; 285
7. Any contracts for entertainers and/or 286
performers at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds entered into by 287
the Mississippi Fair Commission; 288
8. Any contracts entered into by the 289
Department of Finance and Administration when procuring aircraft 290
maintenance, parts, equipment and/or services; 291
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9. Any contract entered into by the 292
Department of Public Safety for service on specialized equipment 293
and/or software required for the operation of such specialized 294
equipment for use by the Office of Forensics Laboratories; 295
10. Any personal or professional service 296
contract entered into by the Mississippi Department of Health or 297
the Department of Revenue solely in connection with their 298
respective responsibilities under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis 299
Act from February 2, 2022, through June 30, * * * 2029; 300
11. Any contract for attorney, accountant, 301
actuary auditor, architect, engineer, anatomical pathologist, or 302
utility rate expert services; 303
12. Any personal service contracts approved 304
by the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and 305
Administration and entered into by the Coordinator of Mental 306
Health Accessibility through June 30, 2022; 307
13. Any personal or professional services 308
contract entered into by the State Department of Health in 309
carrying out its responsibilities under the ARPA Rural Water 310
Associations Infrastructure Grant Program through June 30, * * * 311
2029; 312
14. And any personal or professional services 313
contract entered into by the Mississippi Department of 314
Environmental Quality in carrying out its responsibilities under 315
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the Mississippi Municipality and County Water Infrastructure Grant 316
Program Act of 2022, through June 30, * * * 2029; 317
15. Any personal or professional services 318
contract entered into by an agency for the design, operation or 319
maintenance of museum exhibits. An agency making a purchase under 320
this exemption shall publicly advertise a Request for 321
Qualifications but shall be otherwise exempt. Any contracts 322
arising from the use of this exemption must be approved by the 323
Public Procurement Review Board prior to execution by the agency; 324
16. Any personal or professional services 325
contract entered into by the Mississippi Department of 326
Environmental Quality in carrying out its responsibilities under 327
Section 49-2-13(l). This item 16 shall stand repealed on July 1, 328
2028; and 329
17. Any contract entered into by the State 330
Department of Health for service on specialized equipment and/or 331
software required for the operation of such specialized equipment 332
for the use by the Public Health Laboratory. 333
Any such rules and regulations shall provide for maintaining 334
continuous internal audit covering the activities of such agency 335
affecting its revenue and expenditures as required under Section 336
7-7-3(6)(d). Any rules and regulation changes related to personal 337
and professional services contracts that the Public Procurement 338
Review Board may propose shall be submitted to the Chairs of the 339
Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committees of the 340
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Senate and House of Representatives and the Chairs of the 341
Appropriation Committees of the Senate and House of 342
Representatives at least fifteen (15) days before the board votes 343
on the proposed changes, and those rules and regulation changes, 344
if adopted, shall be promulgated in accordance with the 345
Mississippi Administrative Procedures Act. 346
(ii) From and after July 1, 2024, the Public 347
Procurement Review Board shall promulgate rules and regulations 348
that require the Department of Finance and Administration to 349
conduct personal and professional services solicitations as 350
provided in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph for those services 351
in excess of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) for the 352
Department of Marine Resources, the Department of Wildlife, 353
Fisheries and Parks, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency 354
and the Mississippi Development Authority, with assistance to be 355
provided from these entities. Any powers that have been conferred 356
upon agencies in order to comply with the provisions of this 357
section for personal and professional services solicitations shall 358
be conferred upon the Department of Finance and Administration to 359
conduct personal and professional services solicitations for the 360
Department of Marine Resources, the Department of Wildlife, 361
Fisheries and Parks, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency 362
and the Mississippi Development Authority for those services in 363
excess of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00). The 364
Department of Finance and Administration shall make any 365
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submissions that are required to be made by other agencies to the 366
Public Procurement Review Board for the Department of Marine 367
Resources, the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the 368
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi 369
Development Authority. 370
The provisions of this subparagraph (ii) shall stand repealed 371
on June 30, 2027; 372
(g) Approve all personal and professional services 373
contracts involving the expenditures of funds in excess of 374
Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00), except as provided in 375
paragraph (f) of this subsection (2) and in subsection (8); 376
(h) Develop mandatory standards with respect to 377
contractual services personnel that require invitations for public 378
bid, requests for proposals, record keeping and financial 379
responsibility of contractors. The Public Procurement Review 380
Board shall, unless exempted under this paragraph (h) or under 381
paragraph (i) or (o) of this subsection (2), require the agency 382
involved to submit the procurement to a competitive procurement 383
process, and may reserve the right to reject any or all resulting 384
procurements; 385
(i) Prescribe certain circumstances by which agency 386
heads may enter into contracts for personal and professional 387
services without receiving prior approval from the Public 388
Procurement Review Board. The Public Procurement Review Board may 389
establish a preapproved list of providers of various personal and 390
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professional services for set prices with which state agencies may 391
contract without bidding or prior approval from the board; 392
(i) Agency requirements may be fulfilled by 393
procuring services performed incident to the state's own programs. 394
The agency head shall determine in writing whether the price 395
represents a fair market value for the services. When the 396
procurements are made from other governmental entities, the 397
private sector need not be solicited; however, these contracts 398
shall still be submitted for approval to the Public Procurement 399
Review Board. 400
(ii) Contracts between two (2) state agencies, 401
both under Public Procurement Review Board purview, shall not 402
require Public Procurement Review Board approval. However, the 403
contracts shall still be entered into the enterprise resource 404
planning system; 405
(j) Provide standards for the issuance of requests for 406
proposals, the evaluation of proposals received, consideration of 407
costs and quality of services proposed, contract negotiations, the 408
administrative monitoring of contract performance by the agency 409
and successful steps in terminating a contract; 410
(k) Present recommendations for governmental 411
privatization and to evaluate privatization proposals submitted by 412
any state agency; 413
(l) Authorize personal and professional service 414
contracts to be effective for more than one (1) year provided a 415
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funding condition is included in any such multiple year contract, 416
except the State Board of Education, which shall have the 417
authority to enter into contractual agreements for student 418
assessment for a period up to ten (10) years. The State Board of 419
Education shall procure these services in accordance with the 420
Public Procurement Review Board procurement regulations; 421
(m) Request the State Auditor to conduct a performance 422
audit on any personal or professional service contract; 423
(n) Prepare an annual report to the Legislature 424
concerning the issuance of personal and professional services 425
contracts during the previous year, collecting any necessary 426
information from state agencies in making such report; 427
(o) Develop and implement the following standards and 428
procedures for the approval of any sole source contract for 429
personal and professional services regardless of the value of the 430
procurement: 431
(i) For the purposes of this paragraph (o), the 432
term "sole source" means only one (1) source is available that can 433
provide the required personal or professional service. 434
(ii) An agency that has been issued a binding, 435
valid court order mandating that a particular source or provider 436
must be used for the required service must include a copy of the 437
applicable court order in all future sole source contract reviews 438
for the particular personal or professional service referenced in 439
the court order. 440
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(iii) Any agency alleging to have a sole source 441
for any personal or professional service, other than those 442
exempted under paragraph (f) of this subsection (2) and subsection 443
(8), shall publish on the procurement portal website established 444
by Sections 25-53-151 and 27-104-165, for at least fourteen (14) 445
days, the terms of the proposed contract for those services. In 446
addition, the publication shall include, but is not limited to, 447
the following information: 448
1. The personal or professional service 449
offered in the contract; 450
2. An explanation of why the personal or 451
professional service is the only one that can meet the needs of 452
the agency; 453
3. An explanation of why the source is the 454
only person or entity that can provide the required personal or 455
professional service; 456
4. An explanation of why the amount to be 457
expended for the personal or professional service is reasonable; 458
and 459
5. The efforts that the agency went through 460
to obtain the best possible price for the personal or professional 461
service. 462
(iv) If any person or entity objects and proposes 463
that the personal or professional service published under 464
subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph (o) is not a sole source 465
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service and can be provided by another person or entity, then the 466
objecting person or entity shall notify the Public Procurement 467
Review Board and the agency that published the proposed sole 468
source contract with a detailed explanation of why the personal or 469
professional service is not a sole source service. 470
(v) 1. If the agency determines after review that 471
the personal or professional service in the proposed sole source 472
contract can be provided by another person or entity, then the 473
agency must withdraw the sole source contract publication from the 474
procurement portal website and submit the procurement of the 475
personal or professional service to an advertised competitive bid 476
or selection process. 477
2. If the agency determines after review that 478
there is only one (1) source for the required personal or 479
professional service, then the agency may appeal to the Public 480
Procurement Review Board. The agency has the burden of proving 481
that the personal or professional service is only provided by one 482
(1) source. 483
3. If the Public Procurement Review Board has 484
any reasonable doubt as to whether the personal or professional 485
service can only be provided by one (1) source, then the agency 486
must submit the procurement of the personal or professional 487
service to an advertised competitive bid or selection process. No 488
action taken by the Public Procurement Review Board in this appeal 489
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process shall be valid unless approved by a majority of the 490
members of the Public Procurement Review Board present and voting. 491
(vi) The Public Procurement Review Board shall 492
prepare and submit a quarterly report to the House of 493
Representatives and Senate Accountability, Efficiency and 494
Transparency Committees that details the sole source contracts 495
presented to the Public Procurement Review Board and the reasons 496
that the Public Procurement Review Board approved or rejected each 497
contract. These quarterly reports shall also include the 498
documentation and memoranda required in subsection (4) of this 499
section. An agency that submitted a sole source contract shall be 500
prepared to explain the sole source contract to each committee by 501
December 15 of each year upon request by the committee; 502
(p) Assess any fines and administrative penalties 503
provided for in Sections 31-7-401 through 31-7-423. 504
(3) All submissions shall be made sufficiently in advance of 505
each monthly meeting of the Public Procurement Review Board as 506
prescribed by the Public Procurement Review Board. If the Public 507
Procurement Review Board rejects any contract submitted for review 508
or approval, the Public Procurement Review Board shall clearly set 509
out the reasons for its action, including, but not limited to, the 510
policy that the agency has violated in its submitted contract and 511
any corrective actions that the agency may take to amend the 512
contract to comply with the rules and regulations of the Public 513
Procurement Review Board. 514
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(4) All sole source contracts for personal and professional 515
services awarded by state agencies, other than those exempted 516
under Section 27-104-7(2)(f) and (8), whether approved by an 517
agency head or the Public Procurement Review Board, shall contain 518
in the procurement file a written determination for the approval, 519
using a request form furnished by the Public Procurement Review 520
Board. The written determination shall document the basis for the 521
determination, including any market analysis conducted in order to 522
ensure that the service required was practicably available from 523
only one (1) source. A memorandum shall accompany the request 524
form and address the following four (4) points: 525
(a) Explanation of why this service is the only service 526
that can meet the needs of the purchasing agency; 527
(b) Explanation of why this vendor is the only 528
practicably available source from which to obtain this service; 529
(c) Explanation of why the price is considered 530
reasonable; and 531
(d) Description of the efforts that were made to 532
conduct a noncompetitive negotiation to get the best possible 533
price for the taxpayers. 534
(5) In conjunction with the State Personnel Board, the 535
Public Procurement Review Board shall develop and promulgate rules 536
and regulations to define the allowable legal relationship between 537
contract employees and the contracting departments, agencies and 538
institutions of state government under the jurisdiction of the 539
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State Personnel Board, in compliance with the applicable rules and 540
regulations of the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for 541
federal employment tax purposes. Under these regulations, the 542
usual common law rules are applicable to determine and require 543
that such worker is an independent contractor and not an employee, 544
requiring evidence of lawful behavioral control, lawful financial 545
control and lawful relationship of the parties. Any state 546
department, agency or institution shall only be authorized to 547
contract for personnel services in compliance with those 548
regulations. 549
(6) No member of the Public Procurement Review Board shall 550
use his or her official authority or influence to coerce, by 551
threat of discharge from employment, or otherwise, the purchase of 552
commodities, the contracting for personal or professional 553
services, or the contracting for public construction under this 554
chapter. 555
(7) Notwithstanding any other laws or rules to the contrary, 556
the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall not be 557
applicable to the Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport. 558
(8) Nothing in this section shall impair or limit the 559
authority of the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' 560
Retirement System to enter into any personal or professional 561
services contracts directly related to their constitutional 562
obligation to manage the trust funds, including, but not limited 563
to, actuarial, custodial banks, cash management, investment 564
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ST: ARPA Rural Water Associations
Infrastructure Grant Program; extend repealer on
exemption from certain Public Procurement Review
Board requirements.
consultant and investment management contracts. Nothing in this 565
section shall impair or limit the authority of the State Treasurer 566
to enter into any personal or professional services contracts 567
involving the management of trust funds, including, but not 568
limited to, actuarial, custodial banks, cash management, 569
investment consultant and investment management contracts. 570
(9) Through December 31, * * * 2029, the provisions of this 571
section related to rental agreements or leasing of real property 572
for the purpose of conducting agency business shall not apply to 573
the Office of Workforce Development created in Section 37-153-7. 574
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 575
and after July 1, 2026. 576