00 SENATE BILL NO. 274 01 "An Act relating to a public procurement preference for Alaska veterans with service- 02 related disabilities." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 36.30.170(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) Except as provided in (b) - (h) and (l) of this section, the procurement 06 officer shall award a contract based on the solicited bids with reasonable promptness 07 by written notice to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder whose bid conforms 08 in all material respects to the requirements and criteria set out in the invitation to bid. 09 * Sec. 2. AS 36.30.170(c) is amended to read: 10 (c) Except as otherwise provided under (e), (f), or (l) [(e) OR (f)] of this 11 section, if a bidder qualifies under (b) of this section as an Alaska bidder, is offering 12 services through an employment program, and is the lowest responsible and 13 responsive bidder with a bid that is not more than 15 percent higher than the lowest 14 bid, the procurement officer shall award the contract to that bidder. This subsection 01 does not give a bidder who would otherwise qualify for a preference under this 02 subsection a preference over another bidder who would otherwise qualify for a 03 preference under this subsection. 04 * Sec. 3. AS 36.30.170(g) is amended to read: 05 (g) The division of vocational rehabilitation in the Department of Labor and 06 Workforce Development shall add to its current list of qualified employment programs 07 a list of individuals who qualify as persons with a disability under (e) of this section, 08 [AND] of persons who qualify under (f) of this section as employers with 50 percent 09 or more of their employees being persons with disabilities, and of persons who 10 qualify under (l) of this section as Alaska veterans with service-related 11 disabilities. A person must be on this list at the time the bid is opened in order to 12 qualify for a preference under (e), (f), or (l) [(e) OR (f)] of this section. 13 * Sec. 4. AS 36.30.170(h) is amended to read: 14 (h) A preference under (c), (e), (f), or (l) [(c), (e), OR (f)] of this section is in 15 addition to any other preference for which the bidder qualifies, including the 16 preference under (b) of this section; however, a bidder may not receive a preference 17 under both (c) and (e), (c) and (f), (c) and (l), [OR] (e) and (f), (e) and (l), or (f) and 18 (l) of this section for the same contract. 19 * Sec. 5. AS 36.30.170(j) is amended to read: 20 (j) In order to qualify for a preference under (c), (e), (f), or (l) [(c), (e), OR (f)] 21 of this section, a bidder must add value by actually performing, controlling, managing, 22 and supervising the services provided, or a bidder must have sold supplies of the 23 general nature solicited to other state agencies, governments, or the general public. 24 * Sec. 6. AS 36.30.170(k) is amended to read 25 (k) In this section, 26 (1) "Alaska veteran with a service-related disability" means an 27 individual who is 28 (A) a resident of this state; 29 (B) a veteran; in this subparagraph, "veteran" means an 30 individual who served in the active service of the armed forces of the 31 United States and who was separated from the armed forces under a 01 condition that was not dishonorable; and 02 (C) a person with a disability if the disability is a service- 03 related disability; 04 (2) "person with a disability" means an individual 05 (A) [(1)] who has a severe physical or mental disability that 06 seriously limits one or more functional capacities in terms of employability; in 07 this subparagraph [PARAGRAPH], "functional capacities" means mobility, 08 communication, self-care, self-direction, interpersonal skills, work tolerance, 09 or work skills; 10 (B) [(2)] whose physical or mental disability 11 (i) [(A)] results from amputation, arthritis, autism, 12 blindness, burn injury, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, deafness, 13 head injury, heart disease, hemiplegia, hemophilia, respiratory or 14 pulmonary dysfunction, mental retardation, mental illness, multiple 15 sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, musculo-skeletal disorders, neurological 16 disorders, paraplegia, quadriplegia, other spinal cord conditions, sickle 17 cell anemia, specific learning disability, or end stage renal disease; in 18 this sub-subparagraph [SUBPARAGRAPH], "neurological disorders" 19 include stroke and epilepsy; or 20 (ii) [(B)] is a disability or combination of disabilities 21 that are not identified in (i) [(A)] of this subparagraph 22 [PARAGRAPH] and that are determined on the basis of an evaluation 23 of rehabilitation potential to cause substantial functional limitation 24 comparable to a disability identified in (i) [(A)] of this subparagraph 25 [PARAGRAPH]; and 26 (C) [(3)] whose vocational rehabilitation can be expected to 27 require multiple vocational rehabilitation services over an extended period of 28 time; 29 (3) "service-related disability" means a disability that 30 (A) was incurred in the line of duty while in the active 31 service of the armed forces of the United States; and 01 (B) is registered as a service-related disability with the 02 United States Department of Veterans Affairs. 03 * Sec. 7. AS 36.30.170 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 04 (l) If a bidder qualifies under (b) of this section as an Alaska bidder, is a 05 qualifying entity, and is the lowest responsible and responsive bidder with a bid that is 06 not more than 10 percent higher than the lowest bid, the procurement officer shall 07 award the contract to that bidder. In this subsection, "qualifying entity" means a 08 (1) sole proprietorship owned by an Alaska veteran with a service- 09 related disability; 10 (2) partnership under AS 32.06 or AS 32.11 if each of the partners is 11 an Alaska veteran with a service-related disability; 12 (3) limited liability company organized under AS 10.50 if each of the 13 members is an Alaska veteran with a service-related disability; or 14 (4) corporation that is wholly owned by individuals and each of the 15 individuals is an Alaska veteran with a service-related disability. 16 * Sec. 8. AS 36.30.250(b) is amended to read: 17 (b) In determining whether a proposal is advantageous to the state, the 18 procurement officer shall take into account, in accordance with regulations of the 19 commissioner, whether the offeror qualifies as an Alaska bidder under 20 AS 36.30.170(b), is offering the service of an employment program, or qualifies for a 21 preference under AS 36.30.170(e), (f), or (l) [AS 36.30.170(e) OR (f)]. 22 * Sec. 9. AS 36.30.335 is amended to read: 23 Sec. 36.30.335. Relationship to other product preferences. This chapter 24 does not modify AS 36.15.010 and 36.15.020 regarding preference for Alaska forest 25 products, or AS 36.15.050 and 36.15.060 regarding preference for Alaska agricultural 26 and fisheries products, except as provided in AS 36.30.170(b), (c), (e) - (h), (l,) and 27 36.30.337 [AS 36.30.170(b), (c), (e) - (h), AND 36.30.337].