S 8385: Relates to establishing protest procedures on contracts rewarded by state agencies and how such protests may be resolved.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8385 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE June 6, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- (at request of the State Comptroller) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the state finance law and the public authorities law, in relation to protest procedures The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 163 of the state finance law is 2 amended by adding six new paragraphs l, m, n, o, p and q to read as 3 follows: 4 l. "Bidder" means an individual, entity or other offeror submitting a 5 response to a solicitation by a state agency, as defined in this chap- 6 ter. 7 m. "Contract award" means a written determination from a state agency 8 to a bidder indicating that the state agency has selected a particular 9 bidder under the procurement process. 10 n. "Interested party" means a participant in the procurement process, 11 and those who can establish that their participation in the procurement 12 process was foreclosed by the actions of the state agency and have 13 suffered harm as a result of the manner in which the procurement was 14 conducted. 15 o. "Protest" means a written challenge by an interested party of a 16 contract award by a state agency. 17 p. "Solicitation" means a document issued by a state agency, request- 18 ing a response to a procurement need, including an invitation for bids, 19 a request for proposals, or another written method of seeking a bid or a 20 proposal for a specified purpose. 21 q. "Protest procedure" means the guidance developed and implemented by 22 every state agency pursuant to the provisions of this section to govern 23 the protest of a contract award. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06355-01-5 
 S. 8385 2 1 § 2. Section 163 of the state finance law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 16 to read as follows: 3 16. State agency protest. Every state agency shall make available 4 protest procedures to interested parties and provide notice of their 5 protest procedures in solicitation documents, and all bidders shall be 6 given written notice of the contract award. At a minimum, protest proce- 7 dures shall include: 8 a. the form and manner for submission of a bid protest; 9 b. the deadline for submission of a bid protest; which shall be either 10 ten business days from notice of the contract award or five business 11 days from the debriefing, whichever is later; 12 c. the manner in which the bid protest will be resolved, and a deter- 13 mination will be issued; and 14 d. a retention policy for all records related to bid protests. 15 § 3. Subdivision 9 of section 2879 of the public authorities law, as 16 renumbered by chapter 844 of the laws of 1992, is renumbered subdivision 17 10 and a new subdivision 9 is added to read as follows: 18 9. (a) In addition to the procurement contract guidelines required by 19 this section, every corporation shall make available protest procedures 20 to interested parties and provide notice of their protest procedures in 21 solicitation documents, and all bidders shall be given written notice of 22 the contract award. At a minimum, protest procedures shall include: 23 (i) the form and manner for submission of a bid protest; 24 (ii) the deadline for submission of a bid protest; which shall be 25 either ten business days from notice of the contract award or five busi- 26 ness days from the debriefing, whichever is later; 27 (iii) the manner in which the bid protest will be resolved, and a 28 determination will be issued; and 29 (iv) a retention policy for all records related to bid protests. 30 (b) For the purposes of this subdivision, the following terms shall 31 have the following meanings: 32 (i) "Bidder" shall have the same meaning as defined in section one 33 hundred sixty-three of the state finance law. 34 (ii) "Contract award" shall have the same meaning as defined in 35 section one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law. 36 (iii) "Interested party" shall have the same meaning as defined in 37 section one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law. 38 (iv) "Protest" shall have the same meaning as defined in section one 39 hundred sixty-three of the state finance law. 40 (v) "Solicitation" shall have the same meaning as defined in section 41 one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law. 42 (vi) "Protest procedure" shall have the same meaning as defined in 43 section one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law. 44 § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 45 have become a law.