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Local Agency Participation in State Procurement Contracts |
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Public Contract Code 10298 allows local agencies to participate in State procurements including agreements for goods, information technology, and services. Local agencies may contract with suppliers awarded these contracts without further competitive bidding. A local agency is a city, county, city and county, district, or other local governmental body or corporation empowered to expend public funds. When they meet the definition, this includes school districts, water districts, mosquito abatement districts, transportation authorities and many other agencies. Local agencies have historically looked to State contracts as a bellwether in assisting procurement decisions. The State of California has a long history of joint participation with local agencies in the purchase of cars, trucks, police vehicles, ammunition and pre-fabricated classrooms. The State continues to invite participation and assist in local procurements. The State actively participates in purchasing organizations such as the California Association of Public Purchasing Officers (CAPPO), National Association of State Purchasing Officials (NASPO), and the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). The State of California has embarked on an aggressive program to increase awareness of the contracts and master agreements available to local agencies. The State is continually renewing and updating existing contracts, but now has increased its efforts to offer new master agreements and schedules for local agency participation. Participating in State contracts is usually accomplished by the local agency through use of its own order forms and direct contact with the contractor. Information Technology (IT) master agreements add great flexibility to the local agency decision making for software and IT services. Master Agreements for a wide variety of consulting services are also available. These agreements have generally been competitively bid to include local agency participation per the government codes cited above. Please see the related pages herein to peruse the complete lists of available masters, contracts and schedules. Under www.pd.dgs.ca.gov you will find such programs as the Masters Agreements and Statewide Contracts, the Natural Gas Purchasing Program and California Multiple Awards Schedules. These programs specifically offer a vast array of goods and services that a particular local agency may not have the expertise in procuring. |
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