Title: State Procurement

Summary: Requires DMS to establish certification program for vendors who pay their employees equal pay for equal work without regard to gender, subject to available resources; requires DMS to adopt certain rules to implement & administer program; authorizes certified vendor to include its certification in advertising & promotional materials; provides penalty; provides limited bidding preference for certified vendors if certain conditions are met.

Full Text:
An act relating to state procurement; creating s. 287.0921, F.S.; requiring the Department of Management Services to establish a certification program for vendors who pay their employees equal pay for equal work without regard to gender, subject to available resources; requiring the department to adopt certain rules to implement and administer the program; requiring the department to include the vendor's certificati on in its records; authorizing a certified vendor to include its certification in advertising and promotional materials; providing a penalty for a vendor who makes a material misrepresentation or commits a fraudulent act in regard to self certification; pr oviding a limited bidding preference for certified vendors if certain conditions are met; prescribing reporting requirements; authorizing the department to cooperate and coordinate with certain governmental entities in carrying out the act; providing for a pplicability; authorizing the department to initiate rulemaking upon the act becoming a law; providing effective dates. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: HB 2019 Section 1. Section 287.0921, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 287.0921 Equal pay certification for vendors; bid preference.-(1) Within the limits of available resources, the department shall establish a program to certify vendors that pay their employees equal pay for equal work without regard to gender. (2) The department shall adopt rules to implement and administer the certification program. At a minimum, the rules must include: (a) A method for a vendor to self-certify that the vendor pays its employees equal pay for equal work without regard to gender. (b) The manner of certification by the Secretary of Management Services of a vendor that fulfills the requirements of self-certification. (3) If the secretary certifies a vendor in accordance with the rules adopted pursuant to subsection (2): (a) The department must include the vendor's certified status in records concerning the vendor which are held by the department or made available on the department's website. (b) The vendor may acknowledge its certification in its advertising, marketing, or other promotional materials. (4)(a) If the department determines that a vendor has made HB 2019 a material misrepresentation or otherwise committed a fraudulent act in self-certifying in accordance with the rules adopted pursuant to subsection (2), the vendor may be prohibited, for a period of up to months, from: 1. Self-certifying that the vendor pays its employees equal pay for equal work without regard to gender; and 2. Submitting a bid or proposal to an agency. (b) The vendor may, under chapter 120, seek administrative review of the department's determination made pursuant to paragraph (a). (5) If an agency is required to make purchases of personal property through competitive solicitation, a bid or proposal submitted by a vendor who is certified in acco rdance with subsection (2) must be granted a preference of percent if: (a) Two or more of the lowest bids or proposals are within percent of each other; (b) None of the bids or proposals are submitted by a vendor whose principal place of business is within this state; and (c) One or more of the lowest bids or proposals is submitted by a vendor who is certified by the Secretary of Management Services in accordance with subsection (2). (6) On or before October of each year, the department shall submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives which HB 2019 includes, for the immediately preceding fiscal year: (a) The number of vendors certified pursuant to subsection (2). (b) The number of certified vendors that submitted a bid or proposal to an agency. (c) The number of certified vendors that were awarded a contract by an agency. (d) The number of certified vendors that were disciplined pursuant to subsection (4). (7) In carrying out the provisions of this section, the department may cooperate and coordinate with the Department of Economic Opportunity, the Florida Commission on Human Relations, the Florida Commission on the Status of Women, and any other office, department, board, comm ission, or agency of state government that has appropriate expertise. (8) This section does not apply to any state contract that is advertised, bid, offered, or awarded before January 1, 2020. Section 2. Effective upon this act becoming a law, the Department of Management Services may initiate rulemaking for purposes of implementing and administering the equal pay certification program established in s. 287.0921, Florida Statutes, as created by this act. Section 3. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon becoming a law, this act shall take effect January 1, 2020.