SB 376: Public contracts: University of California.

Existing provisions of the California Constitution provide that the University of California constitutes a public trust and require the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of California (regents), a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes, including such competitive bidding procedures as may be applicable to the university by statute for the letting of construction contracts, sales of real property, and purchasing of materials, goods, and services. Existing law requires the regents, except as provided, to let all contracts involving an expenditure of $100,000 or more annually for goods and materials or services, excepting personal or professional services, to the lowest responsible bidder meeting certain specifications, or to reject all bids. Existing law, until January 1, 2018, also authorizes the bid evaluation and selection for these contracts to be determined by the best value.

This bill would require a bidder, to qualify as a lowest responsible bidder or best value awardee on contracts for specified services, to certify in writing to the University of California (UC) that the bid includes a total employee compensation package that is valued on a per-employee basis at a level sufficient that it does not materially undercut the average per-employee value of total compensation for UC employees who perform comparable work at the relevant campus, medical center, or laboratory at which the bidder proposes to perform the work. The bill would require the UC to include in its request for proposals a calculation of the average per-employee value of total compensation for UC employees who perform comparable work at the relevant location, as prescribed. The bill would require contracts for services involving an expenditure of $100,000 or more annually to include any renewals or extensions of the contract that would result in an expenditure of $100,000 or more annually.

This bill would exclude specified employees and public works from these provisions, as provided.