1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to state government; specifying procedures to 
  1.3             avoid conflicts of interest in state contracts; 
  1.4             requiring certain procedures to be followed in making 
  1.5             changes to certain state contracts and solicitation 
  1.6             documents for certain state contracts; amending 
  1.7             Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 16C.04, subdivision 
  1.8             2; and 16C.08, by adding a subdivision. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 16C.04, 
  1.11  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 2.  [CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY DEVELOPMENT.] (a) 
  1.13  The commissioner must develop policies regarding code of ethics 
  1.14  and conflict of interest designed to prevent conflicts of 
  1.15  interest for employees involved in the acquisition of goods, 
  1.16  services, and utilities.  The policies must apply to employees 
  1.17  who are directly or indirectly involved in the acquisition of 
  1.18  goods, services, and utilities, developing requests for 
  1.19  proposals, evaluating bids or proposals, awarding the contract, 
  1.20  selecting the final vendor, drafting and entering into 
  1.21  contracts, evaluating performance under these contracts, and 
  1.22  authorizing payments under the contract.  
  1.23     (b) The policies must contain a process for making 
  1.24  employees aware of policy and laws relating to conflict of 
  1.25  interest, and for training employees on how to avoid and deal 
  1.26  with potential conflicts.  
  1.27     (c) The policies must contain a process under which an 
  2.1   employee who has a conflict of interest or a potential conflict 
  2.2   of interest must disclose the matter, and a process under which 
  2.3   work on the contract may be assigned to another employee if 
  2.4   possible.  
  2.5      (d) The policies must ensure that a vendor under contract 
  2.6   to the state who is seeking to obtain another state contract 
  2.7   does not participate in the latter contracting decision in a 
  2.8   manner that creates the possibility for an actual or perceived 
  2.9   conflict of interest. 
  2.10     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 16C.08, is 
  2.11  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.12     Subd. 3a.  [CHANGES IN SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS OR 
  2.13  CONTRACTS.] (a) If a request for proposal or other solicitation 
  2.14  document is changed in any substantive manner or the response 
  2.15  due date is changed:  (1) the request or other solicitation 
  2.16  document must be republished in the same place and sent to the 
  2.17  same persons or companies to whom the original document was 
  2.18  sent; and (2) at least 14 additional days from the time of the 
  2.19  republication and resending must be allowed for responses. 
  2.20     (b) A contract may not be amended in a manner that would 
  2.21  provide for work to be done that is outside the scope of work 
  2.22  described in the original request for proposal or other 
  2.23  solicitation document. 
  2.24     (c) This subdivision does not apply in an emergency, as 
  2.25  defined in section 16C.10, subdivision 2.