MS Municipality and County Water Infrastructure Grant Program Act of 2022; extend repealer on.

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To: Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Shanks

HOUSE BILL NO. 940

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 49-2-131, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO EXTEND THE DATE OF THE REPEALERS ON THE MISSISSIPPI 2
MUNICIPALITY AND COUNTY WATER INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT PROGRAM ACT OF 3
2022 AND ON THE EXEMPTION FROM THE APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE 4
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REVIEW BOARD FOR PERSONAL OR PROFESSIONAL 5
SERVICES CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO BY THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF 6
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY UNDER THE ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 27-104-7, 7
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PRECEDING 8
PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT AND TO EXTEND THE DATE OF OTHER EXEMPTIONS 9
IN THAT CODE SECTION WHICH ARE NOT RELATED TO THE MISSISSIPPI 10
MUNICIPALITY AND COUNTY WATER INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT PROGRAM ACT OF 11
2022 BUT WHICH ARE ALSO SET TO EXPIRE IN 2026; AND FOR RELATED 12
PURPOSES. 13
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 14
SECTION 1. Section 49-2-131, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 15
amended as follows: 16
49-2-131. (1) This section shall be known and may be cited 17
as the "Mississippi Municipality and County Water Infrastructure 18
Grant Program Act of 2022." 19
(2) There is * * * established within the Mississippi 20
Department of Environmental Quality the Mississippi Municipality 21
and County Water Infrastructure (MCWI) Grant Program under which 22
municipalities, counties and certain public utilities not 23
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regulated by the Public Service Commission may apply until 24
February 1, 2023, for reimbursable grants to make necessary 25
investments in water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure to 26
be funded by the Legislature utilizing Coronavirus State Fiscal 27
Recovery Funds made available under the federal American Rescue 28
Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). Such grants shall be made available to 29
municipalities and counties to be matched with the Coronavirus 30
Local Fiscal Recovery Funds awarded or to be awarded to them under 31
ARPA on a one-to-one matching basis. Coronavirus Local Fiscal 32
Recovery Funds that a county transfers to a municipality or that a 33
county or municipality transfers to a public utility not regulated 34
by the Public Service Commission are eligible on a one-to-one 35
matching basis. Municipalities that received less than One 36
Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) in the total allocation of 37
Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds are eligible for a 38
two-to-one match only on the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery 39
Funds awarded or to be awarded to them under ARPA. The 40
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality shall only accept 41
two (2) rounds of submissions under the Mississippi Municipality 42
and County Water Infrastructure (MCWI) Grant Program. The second 43
round of submissions shall be the final round. The dollar amount 44
for professional fees that can be allocated as a part of a 45
county's, municipality's or public utility's matching share is not 46
to exceed four percent (4%) of the total project cost. 47
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(3) For purposes of this section, unless the context 48
requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the meanings 49
ascribed herein: 50
(a) "MCWI Grant Program" means the Mississippi 51
Municipality and County Water Infrastructure Grant Program. 52
(b) "ARPA" means the federal American Rescue Plan Act 53
of 2021, Public Law 117-2, which amends Title VI of the Social 54
Security Act. 55
(c) "State Recovery Funds" means Coronavirus State 56
Fiscal Recovery Funds awarded through Section 602 of Title VI of 57
the Social Security Act amended by Section 9901 of the federal 58
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Public Law 117-2. 59
(d) "Local Recovery Funds" means Coronavirus Local 60
Fiscal Recovery Funds awarded through Section 603 of Title VI of 61
the Social Security Act amended by Section 9901 of the federal 62
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Public Law 117-2. 63
(e) "Department" means the Department of Environmental 64
Quality. 65
(f) "Professional fees" means fees for the services of 66
attorneys and engineering, surveying, and environmental studies. 67
(g) "Project" means the infrastructure improvements 68
defined in an application that (i) complies with all requirements 69
of ARPA, and (ii) is eligible for a grant award under this 70
section. 71
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(4) (a) On or before July 1, 2022, the Department of 72
Environmental Quality shall promulgate rules and regulations 73
necessary to administer the MCWI Grant Program prescribed under 74
this section, including application procedures and deadlines. The 75
department is exempt from compliance with the Mississippi 76
Administrative Procedures Law in fulfilling the requirements of 77
this section. 78
(b) The Department of Health shall advise the 79
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality regarding all such 80
rules and regulations as related to the federal Safe Drinking 81
Water Act. 82
(5) Funding under the MCWI Grant Program shall be allocated 83
to projects certified by the Mississippi Department of 84
Environmental Quality as eligible for federal funding, including, 85
but not be limited to, the following: 86
(a) Construction of publicly owned treatment works; 87
(b) Projects pursuant to the implementation of a 88
nonpoint source pollution management program established under the 89
Clean Water Act (CWA); 90
(c) Decentralized wastewater treatment systems that 91
treat municipal wastewater or domestic sewage; 92
(d) Management and treatment of stormwater or 93
subsurface drainage water; 94
(e) Water conservation, efficiency, or reuse measures; 95
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(f) Development and implementation of a conservation 96
and management plan under the CWA; 97
(g) Watershed projects meeting the criteria set forth 98
in the CWA; 99
(h) Energy consumption reduction for publicly owned 100
treatment works; 101
(i) Reuse or recycling of wastewater, stormwater, or 102
subsurface drainage water; 103
(j) Facilities to improve drinking water quality; 104
(k) Transmission and distribution, including 105
improvements of water pressure or prevention of contamination in 106
infrastructure and lead service line replacements; 107
(l) New sources to replace contaminated drinking water 108
or increase drought resilience, including aquifer storage and 109
recovery system for water storage; 110
(m) Storage of drinking water, such as to prevent 111
contaminants or equalize water demands; 112
(n) Purchase of water systems and interconnection of 113
systems; 114
(o) New community water systems; 115
(p) Culvert repair, resizing, and removal, replacement 116
of storm sewers, and additional types of stormwater 117
infrastructure; 118
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(q) Dam and reservoir rehabilitation, if the primary 119
purpose of dam or reservoir is for drinking water supply and 120
project is necessary for the provision of drinking water; 121
(r) Broad set of lead remediation projects eligible 122
under EPA grant programs authorized by the Water Infrastructure 123
Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act; and 124
(s) Any eligible drinking water, wastewater or 125
stormwater project through ARPA guidelines, guidance, rules, 126
regulations and other criteria, as may be amended from time to 127
time, by the United States Department of the Treasury. 128
(6) The governing authority of a municipality, county or 129
public utility that is not regulated by the Public Service 130
Commission may submit an application for grant funds under this 131
section if the applicant is an operator-member of Mississippi 811, 132
Inc., as defined in Section 77-13-3. Applicants shall certify to 133
the department that each expenditure of the funds awarded to them 134
under this section is in compliance with ARPA guidelines, 135
guidance, rules, regulations and other criteria, as may be amended 136
from time to time, by the United States Department of the Treasury 137
regarding the use of monies from the State Coronavirus State 138
Fiscal Recovery Funds. Subsequent submissions will be due by the 139
dates established by the department. 140
(7) An application for a grant under this section shall be 141
submitted at such time, be in such form, and contain such 142
information as the department prescribes. Each application for 143
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grant funds shall include the following at a minimum: (a) 144
applicant contact information; (b) project description and type of 145
project; (c) project map; (d) estimate of population affected by 146
the project; (e) disadvantaged community criteria (population, 147
median household income, unemployment, current water/sewer rates); 148
(f) estimated project cost; (g) list of match funds of direct 149
Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds received and to be 150
received from the federal government, a certification that such 151
funds have been or will be used for the project detailed in the 152
application, and documentation of commitment; (h) estimated 153
project schedule and readiness to proceed; (i) engineering 154
services agreement; (j) engineering reports; and (k) information 155
about status of obtaining any required permits. 156
(8) The department must apply a system for use in ranking 157
the grant applications received, unless the Legislature funds all 158
eligible grant requests under the program. When applying the 159
ranking system, the department shall apply a greater weight to 160
projects that have approved engineering/design, plans and permits 161
if the department has deemed the project is ready to begin 162
construction within six (6) months. Projects that are included on 163
the municipal or county engineer's approved list and provide 164
applicable supporting documentation shall receive additional 165
consideration awarded to the application. The ranking system 166
shall include the following factors, at a minimum: (a) the 167
environmental impact of the proposed project; (b) the proposed 168
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project's ability to address noncompliance with state/federal 169
requirements; (c) the extent to which the project promotes 170
economic development; (d) the number of people served by the 171
project and the number of communities the project serves; (e) 172
impacts of the proposed project on disadvantaged/overburdened 173
communities; (f) the grant applicant's prior efforts to secure 174
funding to address the proposed project's objectives; (g) the 175
grant applicant's proposed contribution of other funds or in-kind 176
cost-sharing to the proposed project; (h) the grant applicant's 177
long-term plans for the financial and physical operation and 178
maintenance of the project; (i) the grant applicant's capacity to 179
initiate construction in a timely manner and complete the proposed 180
project by the deadline specified by the United States Department 181
of Treasury rules for ARPA funds; (j) the extent to which the 182
project benefits multiple political subdivisions in a regional 183
manner; (k) the project's ability to enhance public service 184
infrastructure, including transportation and emergency access; and 185
(l) any other factors as determined by the department. 186
(9) The grant program shall include a specific emphasis on 187
addressing the needs of an economically disadvantaged community, 188
including providing safe, reliable drinking water in areas that 189
lack infrastructure, providing sewage treatment capacity in 190
unsewered areas and providing regional development of 191
infrastructure to serve multiple communities. 192
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(10) Applications shall be reviewed and scored as they are 193
received, unless the Legislature funds all eligible grant requests 194
under the program. The Mississippi Department of Environmental 195
Quality shall certify whether each project submitted is a 196
"necessary investment" in water, wastewater, or stormwater 197
infrastructure as defined in the American Rescue Plan Act and all 198
applicable guidance issued by the United States Department of the 199
Treasury. The Department of Environmental Quality shall review 200
the lists of recommended water infrastructure projects and issue 201
its list of recommended projects to the Mississippi Department of 202
Health for its advice. Grant agreements shall be executed between 203
the recipient and the Mississippi Department of Environmental 204
Quality. All final awards shall be determined at the discretion 205
of the executive director of the department. Any funds awarded to 206
the City of Jackson under this section shall be deposited in the 207
Capital City Water/Sewer Projects Fund of the State Treasury. 208
Funds shall be obligated to a grantee upon the execution of a 209
grant agreement between the department and the approved applicant. 210
Funds shall be made available to a grantee when the department 211
obtains the necessary support for reimbursement. The department 212
is authorized to conduct additional rounds of grants as needed; 213
however, in the first round no more than forty percent (40%) of 214
the total funds appropriated for each grant program may be awarded 215
by the department, and the remaining funds may be awarded in the 216
final round which shall occur no later than six (6) months from 217
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the previous round. To ensure equitable treatment between the 218
categories of projects, no less than twenty percent (20%) awarded 219
under this section shall be allocated to each of the three (3) 220
categories of drinking water projects, wastewater projects and 221
stormwater projects. In the final round, any funds not requested 222
may be allocated to any category. 223
(11) Grant funds shall be used prospectively; however, grant 224
funds may be used to reimburse expenses incurred before the 225
enactment of this program if the costs are adequately documented 226
and comply with applicable ARPA guidelines. An applicant must 227
agree to obtain all necessary state and federal permits and follow 228
all state bidding and contracting laws and fiscally sound 229
practices in the administration of the funds. 230
(12) (a) Monies must be disbursed under this section in 231
compliance with the guidelines, guidance, rules, regulations or 232
other criteria, as may be amended from time to time, of the United 233
States Department of the Treasury regarding the use of monies from 234
the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund, established by the 235
American Rescue Plan of 2021. 236
(b) The use of funds allocated under this program shall 237
be subject to audit by the United States Department of the 238
Treasury's Office of Inspector General and the Mississippi Office 239
of the State Auditor. Each person receiving funds under these 240
programs found to be fully or partially noncompliant with the 241
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requirements in this section shall return to the state all or a 242
portion of the funds received. 243
(13) The department shall submit to the Lieutenant Governor, 244
Speaker of the House, House and Senate Appropriations Chairmen, 245
and the Legislative Budget Office quarterly reports and annual 246
reports that are due by the dates established in the Compliance 247
and Reporting Guidance by the United States Department of 248
Treasury. The reports shall contain the applications received, 249
the score of the applications, the amount of grant funds awarded 250
to each applicant, the amount of grant funds expended by each 251
applicant, and status of each applicant's project. The score of 252
the applications is not required if the award was provided in the 253
final round of grants and the Legislature provided the total 254
amount of funds for all eligible grant requests. 255
(14) Grant funds shall be available under this section 256
through December 31, 2026, or on the date of the fund expenditure 257
deadline provided by the federal government, whichever occurs 258
later. Each grant recipient shall certify for any project for 259
which a grant is awarded that if the project is not completed by 260
December 31, 2026, and the United States Congress does not enact 261
an extension of the deadline on the availability of ARPA funds, 262
then the grant recipient will complete the project through other 263
funds. 264
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(15) The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality may 265
retain an amount not to exceed five percent (5%) of the total 266
funds allocated to the program to defray administrative costs. 267
(16) The department shall be exempt from provisions of the 268
Public Procurement Review Board for any requirements of personal 269
or professional service contracts or the pre-approval of the 270
solicitation for such contracts used in the execution of its 271
responsibilities under this section. This subsection shall stand 272
repealed on * * * July 1, 2029. 273
(17) The provisions of this section shall stand repealed on 274
January 1, * * * 2030. 275
SECTION 2. Section 27-104-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 276
amended as follows: 277
27-104-7. (1) (a) There is created the Public Procurement 278
Review Board, which shall be reconstituted on January 1, 2018, and 279
shall be composed of the following members: 280
(i) Three (3) individuals appointed by the 281
Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; 282
(ii) Two (2) individuals appointed by the 283
Lieutenant Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; and 284
(iii) The Executive Director of the Department of 285
Finance and Administration, serving as an ex officio and nonvoting 286
member. 287
(b) The initial terms of each appointee shall be as 288
follows: 289
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(i) One (1) member appointed by the Governor to 290
serve for a term ending on June 30, 2019; 291
(ii) One (1) member appointed by the Governor to 292
serve for a term ending on June 30, 2020; 293
(iii) One (1) member appointed by the Governor to 294
serve for a term ending on June 30, 2021; 295
(iv) One (1) member appointed by the Lieutenant 296
Governor to serve for a term ending on June 30, 2019; and 297
(v) One (1) member appointed by the Lieutenant 298
Governor to serve for a term ending on June 30, 2020. 299
After the expiration of the initial terms, all appointed 300
members' terms shall be for a period of four (4) years from the 301
expiration date of the previous term, and until such time as the 302
member's successor is duly appointed and qualified. 303
(c) When appointing members to the Public Procurement 304
Review Board, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall take into 305
consideration persons who possess at least five (5) years of 306
management experience in general business, health care or finance 307
for an organization, corporation or other public or private 308
entity. Any person, or any employee or owner of a company, who 309
receives any grants, procurements or contracts that are subject to 310
approval under this section shall not be appointed to the Public 311
Procurement Review Board. Any person, or any employee or owner of 312
a company, who is a principal of the source providing a personal 313
or professional service shall not be appointed to the Public 314
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Procurement Review Board if the principal owns or controls a 315
greater than five percent (5%) interest or has an ownership value 316
of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) in the source's business, 317
whichever is smaller. No member shall be an officer or employee 318
of the State of Mississippi while serving as a voting member on 319
the Public Procurement Review Board. 320
(d) Members of the Public Procurement Review Board 321
shall be entitled to per diem as authorized by Section 25-3-69 and 322
travel reimbursement as authorized by Section 25-3-41. 323
(e) The members of the Public Procurement Review Board 324
shall elect a chair from among the membership, and he or she shall 325
preside over the meetings of the board. The board shall annually 326
elect a vice chair, who shall serve in the absence of the chair. 327
No business shall be transacted, including adoption of rules of 328
procedure, without the presence of a quorum of the board. Three 329
(3) members shall be a quorum. No action shall be valid unless 330
approved by a majority of the members present and voting, entered 331
upon the minutes of the board and signed by the chair. Necessary 332
clerical and administrative support for the board shall be 333
provided by the Department of Finance and Administration. Minutes 334
shall be kept of the proceedings of each meeting, copies of which 335
shall be filed on a monthly basis with the chairs of the 336
Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committees of the 337
Senate and House of Representatives and the chairs of the 338
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Appropriations Committees of the Senate and House of 339
Representatives. 340
(2) The Public Procurement Review Board shall have the 341
following powers and responsibilities: 342
(a) Approve all purchasing regulations governing the 343
purchase or lease by any agency, as defined in Section 31-7-1, of 344
commodities and equipment, except computer equipment acquired 345
pursuant to Sections 25-53-1 through 25-53-29; 346
(b) Adopt regulations governing the approval of 347
contracts let for the construction and maintenance of state 348
buildings and other state facilities as well as related contracts 349
for architectural and engineering services. 350
The provisions of this paragraph (b) shall not apply to such 351
contracts involving buildings and other facilities of state 352
institutions of higher learning which are self-administered as 353
provided under this paragraph (b) or Section 37-101-15(m); 354
(c) Adopt regulations governing any lease or rental 355
agreement by any state agency or department, including any state 356
agency financed entirely by federal funds, for space outside the 357
buildings under the jurisdiction of the Department of Finance and 358
Administration. These regulations shall require each agency 359
requesting to lease such space to provide the following 360
information that shall be published by the Department of Finance 361
and Administration on its website: the agency to lease the space; 362
the terms of the lease; the approximate square feet to be leased; 363
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the use for the space; a description of a suitable space; the 364
general location desired for the leased space; the contact 365
information for a person from the agency; the deadline date for 366
the agency to have received a lease proposal; any other specific 367
terms or conditions of the agency; and any other information 368
deemed appropriate by the Division of Real Property Management of 369
the Department of Finance and Administration or the Public 370
Procurement Review Board. The information shall be provided 371
sufficiently in advance of the time the space is needed to allow 372
the Division of Real Property Management of the Department of 373
Finance and Administration to review and preapprove the lease 374
before the time for advertisement begins; 375
(d) Adopt, in its discretion, regulations to set aside 376
at least five percent (5%) of anticipated annual expenditures for 377
the purchase of commodities from minority businesses; however, all 378
such set-aside purchases shall comply with all purchasing 379
regulations promulgated by the department and shall be subject to 380
all bid requirements. Set-aside purchases for which competitive 381
bids are required shall be made from the lowest and best minority 382
business bidder; however, if no minority bid is available or if 383
the minority bid is more than two percent (2%) higher than the 384
lowest bid, then bids shall be accepted and awarded to the lowest 385
and best bidder. However, the provisions in this paragraph shall 386
not be construed to prohibit the rejection of a bid when only one 387
(1) bid is received. Such rejection shall be placed in the 388
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minutes. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "minority 389
business" means a business which is owned by a person who is a 390
citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who 391
is: 392
(i) Black: having origins in any of the black 393
racial groups of Africa; 394
(ii) Hispanic: of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, 395
Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture 396
or origin regardless of race; 397
(iii) Asian-American: having origins in any of 398
the original people of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian 399
subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands; 400
(iv) American Indian or Alaskan Native: having 401
origins in any of the original people of North America; or 402
(v) Female; 403
(e) In consultation with and approval by the Chairs of 404
the Senate and House Public Property Committees, approve leases, 405
for a term not to exceed eighteen (18) months, entered into by 406
state agencies for the purpose of providing parking arrangements 407
for state employees who work in the Woolfolk Building, the Carroll 408
Gartin Justice Building or the Walter Sillers Office Building; 409
(f) (i) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph 410
(ii) of this paragraph, promulgate rules and regulations governing 411
the solicitation and selection of contractual services personnel, 412
including personal and professional services contracts for any 413
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form of consulting, policy analysis, public relations, marketing, 414
public affairs, legislative advocacy services or any other 415
contract that the board deems appropriate for oversight, with the 416
exception of: 417
1. Any personal service contracts entered 418
into by any agency that employs only nonstate service employees as 419
defined in Section 25-9-107(c); 420
2. Any personal service contracts entered 421
into for computer or information technology-related services 422
governed by the Mississippi Department of Information Technology 423
Services; 424
3. Any personal service contracts entered 425
into by the individual state institutions of higher learning; 426
4. Any personal service contracts entered 427
into by the Mississippi Department of Transportation; 428
5. Any personal service contracts entered 429
into by the Department of Human Services through June 30, 2019, 430
which the Executive Director of the Department of Human Services 431
determines would be useful in establishing and operating the 432
Department of Child Protection Services; 433
6. Any personal service contracts entered 434
into by the Department of Child Protection Services through June 435
30, 2019; 436
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7. Any contracts for entertainers and/or 437
performers at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds entered into by 438
the Mississippi Fair Commission; 439
8. Any contracts entered into by the 440
Department of Finance and Administration when procuring aircraft 441
maintenance, parts, equipment and/or services; 442
9. Any contract entered into by the 443
Department of Public Safety for service on specialized equipment 444
and/or software required for the operation of such specialized 445
equipment for use by the Office of Forensics Laboratories; 446
10. Any personal or professional service 447
contract entered into by the Mississippi Department of Health or 448
the Department of Revenue solely in connection with their 449
respective responsibilities under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis 450
Act from February 2, 2022, through June 30, * * * 2029; 451
11. Any contract for attorney, accountant, 452
actuary auditor, architect, engineer, anatomical pathologist, or 453
utility rate expert services; 454
12. Any personal service contracts approved 455
by the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and 456
Administration and entered into by the Coordinator of Mental 457
Health Accessibility through June 30, 2022; 458
13. Any personal or professional services 459
contract entered into by the State Department of Health in 460
carrying out its responsibilities under the ARPA Rural Water 461
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Associations Infrastructure Grant Program through June 30, * * * 462
2029; 463
14. And any personal or professional services 464
contract entered into by the Mississippi Department of 465
Environmental Quality in carrying out its responsibilities under 466
the Mississippi Municipality and County Water Infrastructure Grant 467
Program Act of 2022, through June 30, * * * 2029; 468
15. Any personal or professional services 469
contract entered into by an agency for the design, operation or 470
maintenance of museum exhibits. An agency making a purchase under 471
this exemption shall publicly advertise a Request for 472
Qualifications but shall be otherwise exempt. Any contracts 473
arising from the use of this exemption must be approved by the 474
Public Procurement Review Board prior to execution by the agency; 475
16. Any personal or professional services 476
contract entered into by the Mississippi Department of 477
Environmental Quality in carrying out its responsibilities under 478
Section 49-2-13(l). This item 16 shall stand repealed on July 1, 479
2028; and 480
17. Any contract entered into by the State 481
Department of Health for service on specialized equipment and/or 482
software required for the operation of such specialized equipment 483
for the use by the Public Health Laboratory. 484
Any such rules and regulations shall provide for maintaining 485
continuous internal audit covering the activities of such agency 486
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affecting its revenue and expenditures as required under Section 487
7-7-3(6)(d). Any rules and regulation changes related to personal 488
and professional services contracts that the Public Procurement 489
Review Board may propose shall be submitted to the Chairs of the 490
Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committees of the 491
Senate and House of Representatives and the Chairs of the 492
Appropriation Committees of the Senate and House of 493
Representatives at least fifteen (15) days before the board votes 494
on the proposed changes, and those rules and regulation changes, 495
if adopted, shall be promulgated in accordance with the 496
Mississippi Administrative Procedures Act. 497
(ii) From and after July 1, 2024, the Public 498
Procurement Review Board shall promulgate rules and regulations 499
that require the Department of Finance and Administration to 500
conduct personal and professional services solicitations as 501
provided in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph for those services 502
in excess of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) for the 503
Department of Marine Resources, the Department of Wildlife, 504
Fisheries and Parks, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency 505
and the Mississippi Development Authority, with assistance to be 506
provided from these entities. Any powers that have been conferred 507
upon agencies in order to comply with the provisions of this 508
section for personal and professional services solicitations shall 509
be conferred upon the Department of Finance and Administration to 510
conduct personal and professional services solicitations for the 511
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Department of Marine Resources, the Department of Wildlife, 512
Fisheries and Parks, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency 513
and the Mississippi Development Authority for those services in 514
excess of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00). The 515
Department of Finance and Administration shall make any 516
submissions that are required to be made by other agencies to the 517
Public Procurement Review Board for the Department of Marine 518
Resources, the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the 519
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi 520
Development Authority. 521
The provisions of this subparagraph (ii) shall stand repealed 522
on June 30, 2027; 523
(g) Approve all personal and professional services 524
contracts involving the expenditures of funds in excess of 525
Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00), except as provided in 526
paragraph (f) of this subsection (2) and in subsection (8); 527
(h) Develop mandatory standards with respect to 528
contractual services personnel that require invitations for public 529
bid, requests for proposals, record keeping and financial 530
responsibility of contractors. The Public Procurement Review 531
Board shall, unless exempted under this paragraph (h) or under 532
paragraph (i) or (o) of this subsection (2), require the agency 533
involved to submit the procurement to a competitive procurement 534
process, and may reserve the right to reject any or all resulting 535
procurements; 536
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(i) Prescribe certain circumstances by which agency 537
heads may enter into contracts for personal and professional 538
services without receiving prior approval from the Public 539
Procurement Review Board. The Public Procurement Review Board may 540
establish a preapproved list of providers of various personal and 541
professional services for set prices with which state agencies may 542
contract without bidding or prior approval from the board; 543
(i) Agency requirements may be fulfilled by 544
procuring services performed incident to the state's own programs. 545
The agency head shall determine in writing whether the price 546
represents a fair market value for the services. When the 547
procurements are made from other governmental entities, the 548
private sector need not be solicited; however, these contracts 549
shall still be submitted for approval to the Public Procurement 550
Review Board. 551
(ii) Contracts between two (2) state agencies, 552
both under Public Procurement Review Board purview, shall not 553
require Public Procurement Review Board approval. However, the 554
contracts shall still be entered into the enterprise resource 555
planning system; 556
(j) Provide standards for the issuance of requests for 557
proposals, the evaluation of proposals received, consideration of 558
costs and quality of services proposed, contract negotiations, the 559
administrative monitoring of contract performance by the agency 560
and successful steps in terminating a contract; 561
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(k) Present recommendations for governmental 562
privatization and to evaluate privatization proposals submitted by 563
any state agency; 564
(l) Authorize personal and professional service 565
contracts to be effective for more than one (1) year provided a 566
funding condition is included in any such multiple year contract, 567
except the State Board of Education, which shall have the 568
authority to enter into contractual agreements for student 569
assessment for a period up to ten (10) years. The State Board of 570
Education shall procure these services in accordance with the 571
Public Procurement Review Board procurement regulations; 572
(m) Request the State Auditor to conduct a performance 573
audit on any personal or professional service contract; 574
(n) Prepare an annual report to the Legislature 575
concerning the issuance of personal and professional services 576
contracts during the previous year, collecting any necessary 577
information from state agencies in making such report; 578
(o) Develop and implement the following standards and 579
procedures for the approval of any sole source contract for 580
personal and professional services regardless of the value of the 581
procurement: 582
(i) For the purposes of this paragraph (o), the 583
term "sole source" means only one (1) source is available that can 584
provide the required personal or professional service. 585
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(ii) An agency that has been issued a binding, 586
valid court order mandating that a particular source or provider 587
must be used for the required service must include a copy of the 588
applicable court order in all future sole source contract reviews 589
for the particular personal or professional service referenced in 590
the court order. 591
(iii) Any agency alleging to have a sole source 592
for any personal or professional service, other than those 593
exempted under paragraph (f) of this subsection (2) and subsection 594
(8), shall publish on the procurement portal website established 595
by Sections 25-53-151 and 27-104-165, for at least fourteen (14) 596
days, the terms of the proposed contract for those services. In 597
addition, the publication shall include, but is not limited to, 598
the following information: 599
1. The personal or professional service 600
offered in the contract; 601
2. An explanation of why the personal or 602
professional service is the only one that can meet the needs of 603
the agency; 604
3. An explanation of why the source is the 605
only person or entity that can provide the required personal or 606
professional service; 607
4. An explanation of why the amount to be 608
expended for the personal or professional service is reasonable; 609
and 610
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5. The efforts that the agency went through 611
to obtain the best possible price for the personal or professional 612
service. 613
(iv) If any person or entity objects and proposes 614
that the personal or professional service published under 615
subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph (o) is not a sole source 616
service and can be provided by another person or entity, then the 617
objecting person or entity shall notify the Public Procurement 618
Review Board and the agency that published the proposed sole 619
source contract with a detailed explanation of why the personal or 620
professional service is not a sole source service. 621
(v) 1. If the agency determines after review that 622
the personal or professional service in the proposed sole source 623
contract can be provided by another person or entity, then the 624
agency must withdraw the sole source contract publication from the 625
procurement portal website and submit the procurement of the 626
personal or professional service to an advertised competitive bid 627
or selection process. 628
2. If the agency determines after review that 629
there is only one (1) source for the required personal or 630
professional service, then the agency may appeal to the Public 631
Procurement Review Board. The agency has the burden of proving 632
that the personal or professional service is only provided by one 633
(1) source. 634
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3. If the Public Procurement Review Board has 635
any reasonable doubt as to whether the personal or professional 636
service can only be provided by one (1) source, then the agency 637
must submit the procurement of the personal or professional 638
service to an advertised competitive bid or selection process. No 639
action taken by the Public Procurement Review Board in this appeal 640
process shall be valid unless approved by a majority of the 641
members of the Public Procurement Review Board present and voting. 642
(vi) The Public Procurement Review Board shall 643
prepare and submit a quarterly report to the House of 644
Representatives and Senate Accountability, Efficiency and 645
Transparency Committees that details the sole source contracts 646
presented to the Public Procurement Review Board and the reasons 647
that the Public Procurement Review Board approved or rejected each 648
contract. These quarterly reports shall also include the 649
documentation and memoranda required in subsection (4) of this 650
section. An agency that submitted a sole source contract shall be 651
prepared to explain the sole source contract to each committee by 652
December 15 of each year upon request by the committee; 653
(p) Assess any fines and administrative penalties 654
provided for in Sections 31-7-401 through 31-7-423. 655
(3) All submissions shall be made sufficiently in advance of 656
each monthly meeting of the Public Procurement Review Board as 657
prescribed by the Public Procurement Review Board. If the Public 658
Procurement Review Board rejects any contract submitted for review 659
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or approval, the Public Procurement Review Board shall clearly set 660
out the reasons for its action, including, but not limited to, the 661
policy that the agency has violated in its submitted contract and 662
any corrective actions that the agency may take to amend the 663
contract to comply with the rules and regulations of the Public 664
Procurement Review Board. 665
(4) All sole source contracts for personal and professional 666
services awarded by state agencies, other than those exempted 667
under Section 27-104-7(2)(f) and (8), whether approved by an 668
agency head or the Public Procurement Review Board, shall contain 669
in the procurement file a written determination for the approval, 670
using a request form furnished by the Public Procurement Review 671
Board. The written determination shall document the basis for the 672
determination, including any market analysis conducted in order to 673
ensure that the service required was practicably available from 674
only one (1) source. A memorandum shall accompany the request 675
form and address the following four (4) points: 676
(a) Explanation of why this service is the only service 677
that can meet the needs of the purchasing agency; 678
(b) Explanation of why this vendor is the only 679
practicably available source from which to obtain this service; 680
(c) Explanation of why the price is considered 681
reasonable; and 682
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(d) Description of the efforts that were made to 683
conduct a noncompetitive negotiation to get the best possible 684
price for the taxpayers. 685
(5) In conjunction with the State Personnel Board, the 686
Public Procurement Review Board shall develop and promulgate rules 687
and regulations to define the allowable legal relationship between 688
contract employees and the contracting departments, agencies and 689
institutions of state government under the jurisdiction of the 690
State Personnel Board, in compliance with the applicable rules and 691
regulations of the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for 692
federal employment tax purposes. Under these regulations, the 693
usual common law rules are applicable to determine and require 694
that such worker is an independent contractor and not an employee, 695
requiring evidence of lawful behavioral control, lawful financial 696
control and lawful relationship of the parties. Any state 697
department, agency or institution shall only be authorized to 698
contract for personnel services in compliance with those 699
regulations. 700
(6) No member of the Public Procurement Review Board shall 701
use his or her official authority or influence to coerce, by 702
threat of discharge from employment, or otherwise, the purchase of 703
commodities, the contracting for personal or professional 704
services, or the contracting for public construction under this 705
chapter. 706
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ST: MS Municipality and County Water
Infrastructure Grant Program Act of 2022; extend
repealer on.
(7) Notwithstanding any other laws or rules to the contrary, 707
the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall not be 708
applicable to the Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport. 709
(8) Nothing in this section shall impair or limit the 710
authority of the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' 711
Retirement System to enter into any personal or professional 712
services contracts directly related to their constitutional 713
obligation to manage the trust funds, including, but not limited 714
to, actuarial, custodial banks, cash management, investment 715
consultant and investment management contracts. Nothing in this 716
section shall impair or limit the authority of the State Treasurer 717
to enter into any personal or professional services contracts 718
involving the management of trust funds, including, but not 719
limited to, actuarial, custodial banks, cash management, 720
investment consultant and investment management contracts. 721
(9) Through December 31, * * * 2029, the provisions of this 722
section related to rental agreements or leasing of real property 723
for the purpose of conducting agency business shall not apply to 724
the Office of Workforce Development created in Section 37-153-7. 725
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 726
and after its passage. 727