As required by Section 5-30 of the Code, unless the Board
waives such review, certain proposed State issued contracts shall not be
entered into until the Board's review of the contract during a 30-day contract
review period beginning the date the notice of award or letting of the contract
is published in the Illinois Procurement Bulletin. For the purposes of this
Section, the letting of the contract or the notice of award is deemed to occur
on the date of publication in the Illinois Procurement Bulletin. The Board
shall use the following guidelines for conducting a review.
a) For each contract award the Board wishes
to review, it shall state its policy concern or objective in writing and
whether such concern or objective relates to the particular proposed contract
or another issue under its procurement review authority.
b) The Board shall complete conflict of
interest disclosures for all matters that it identifies for review.
c) The Board may request the Agency to
provide existing documents from its records relevant to the proposed contract
and any policy determinations that guided the Agency's decision to enter into
that contract.
d) In developing
policy recommendations as part of its review, the Board may request information
from industry experts. Requests may include, but are not limited to market
information, demonstration materials, analytical research, operational
guidelines, and performance data. Until such time as the procurement process is
complete and contract with the vendor signed, the Board shall obtain the
written approval of the chief procurement officer before requesting information
from vendors participating in the procurement process for the subject contract.
After the contract with a vendor is signed, no approval from the chief
procurement officer is required for the Board to request information from the
vendors participating in that procurement. The Board shall notify the Agency of
such requests, allow the Agency to provide additional information and provide
the Agency with copies of any records collected in this research.
e) As part of its review, the Board may
conduct interviews, meetings, polling, or hearings to determine facts relevant
to the review. No person participating in the Board's review shall publicly
disclose confidential information regarding the procurement process or contract
subject to review. The chief procurement officer may provide such confidential
information to the Board upon the Board establishing appropriate procedures to
safeguard the confidentiality of the information. If the Board wishes to
interview any person involved in preparing or analyzing the bid or solicitation
or any person responding to such bid or solicitation, it shall first obtain
written approval from the chief procurement officer. The Board will accept
written documentation provided by participants of these events and reduce to
writing all other information that is provided.
f) The Board shall make the Agency aware of
its findings prior to publication in the Procurement Bulletin. The Agency shall
be given the opportunity to respond prior to the Board's final determination
and publishing.
g) The Board shall
publish its final determination in an edition of the Procurement Bulletin upon
conclusion of its review.
