S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9753
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               April 3, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN -- read once and referred to
   the Committee on Governmental Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to the debriefing  of
   certain contracts
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph c of subdivision 9 of section 163  of  the  state
 finance  law,  as  amended by section 2-b of part F of chapter 57 of the
 laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   c. Where provided in the  solicitation,  state  agencies  may  require
 clarification  from offerers for purposes of assuring a full understand-
 ing of responsiveness to the solicitation requirements.  Where  provided
 for  in  the  solicitation, revisions may be permitted from all offerers
 determined to be susceptible of being selected for contract award, prior
 to award. Offerers shall be  accorded  fair  and  equal  treatment  with
 respect  to  their  opportunity for discussion and revision of offers. A
 state agency shall, upon request, provide a debriefing to any unsuccess-
 ful offerer that responded to a request for proposal  or  an  invitation
 for  bids,  regarding  the reasons that the proposal or bid submitted by
 the unsuccessful offerer was not selected for an award. The  opportunity
 for  an  unsuccessful offerer to seek a debriefing, AND THE AVAILABILITY
 OF A WRITTEN EXPLANATION, shall be stated in the solicitation.
   (i) A debriefing shall be requested by the unsuccessful offerer within
 [fifteen] THIRTY calendar days of release  by  the  state  agency  of  a
 notice  in  writing or electronically that the offerer's offer is unsuc-
 cessful.
   (ii) Such notice shall be provided to all unsuccessful offerers by the
 state agency for the specific procurement.
   (iii) The state agency, upon a request made  within  [fifteen]  THIRTY
 days  of release of the written or electronic notice from the unsuccess-
 ful offerer for a debriefing, shall schedule  the  debriefing  to  occur
 within a reasonable time of such request. Debriefings shall be conducted
 by  the  state agency with the unsuccessful offerer in-person, provided,
 however, the parties may mutually agree to utilize other means such  as,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14018-03-4
 A. 9753                             2
 
 but  not  limited to, by telephone, video-conferencing or other types of
 electronic communications. State agency personnel participating  in  the
 debriefing  discussion  shall  have been involved with and knowledgeable
 about the procurement and the evaluation and selection of the successful
 offerer or offerers.
   (iv)  Such  debriefing  shall include, but need not be limited to: (A)
 the reasons that the proposal, bid or offer submitted by the  unsuccess-
 ful  offerer was not selected for award; (B) the qualitative and quanti-
 tative analysis employed by the agency in assessing the relative  merits
 of  the  proposals, bids or offers; (C) the application of the selection
 criteria to the  unsuccessful  offerer's  proposal;  and  (D)  when  the
 debriefing  is held after the final award, the reasons for the selection
 of the winning  proposal,  bid  or  offer.  The  debriefing  shall  also
 provide,  to  the extent practicable, general advice and guidance to the
 unsuccessful  offerer  concerning  potential  ways  that  their   future
 proposals,  bids  or offers could be more responsive. PROVIDED, HOWEVER,
 THAT AN UNSUCCESSFUL OFFERER MAY ADDITIONALLY REQUEST A WRITTEN EXPLANA-
 TION COMPARABLE TO SUCH DEBRIEFING TO BE PROVIDED BY MAIL OR  ELECTRONIC
 MAIL,  WHICH  THE  STATE  AGENCY  SHALL PROVIDE WITHIN SIXTY DAYS OF THE
 OFFERER'S REQUEST FOR A WRITTEN EXPLANATION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have become a law; provided, however, that the amendments to subdivision
 9  of  section  163 of the state finance law made by section one of this
 act shall not affect the repeal of such  section  and  shall  be  deemed
 repealed therewith.