SB2952 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB093 21082 JAM 47126 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
SB2952

Introduced 2/6/2004, by Kirk W. Dillard

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

30 ILCS 105/9.02

from Ch. 127, par. 145c

Amends the State Finance Act. Creates the Private Attorney Retention Sunshine Law within the Act. Prohibits the State Comptroller from authorizing payments under State contracts for legal services unless the awarding entity certifies that copies of the contract were filed with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives for distribution to General Assembly members. Limits the certification and filing requirements to contracts (i) of $500,000 or more or of a contingent nature; (ii) awarded by executive branch constitutional officers, Code departments, and executive branch boards, commissions, and authorities; and (iii) procured other than through a competitive request for proposals method. Imposes specified limits on contingent fees. Effective July 1, 2004.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State contracts.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by changing Section 9.02 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/9.02) (from Ch. 127, par. 145c)

Sec. 9.02. Vouchers; signature; delegation; electronic submission.

(a)(1) Any new contract or contract renewal in the amount of $250,000 or more in a fiscal year, or any order against a master contract in the amount of $250,000 or more in a fiscal year, or any contract amendment or change to an existing contract that increases the value of the contract to or by $250,000 or more in a fiscal year, shall be signed or approved in writing by the chief executive officer of the agency, and shall also be signed or approved in writing by the agency's chief legal counsel and chief fiscal officer. If the agency does not have a chief legal counsel or a chief fiscal officer, the chief executive officer of the agency shall designate in writing a senior executive as the individual responsible for signature or approval.

(2) No document identified in paragraph (1) may be filed with the Comptroller, nor may any authorization for payment pursuant to such documents be filed with the Comptroller, if the required signatures or approvals are lacking.

(3) Any person who, with knowledge the signatures or approvals required in paragraph (1) are lacking, either files or directs another to file documents or payment authorizations in violation of paragraph (2) shall be subject to discipline up to and including discharge.

(4) Procurements shall not be artificially divided so as to avoid the necessity of complying with paragraph (1).

(5) Each State agency shall develop and implement procedures to ensure the necessary signatures or approvals are obtained. Each State agency may establish, maintain and follow procedures that are more restrictive than those required herein.

(6) This subsection (a) applies to all State agencies as defined in Section 1-7 of the Illinois State Auditing Act, which includes without limitation the General Assembly and its agencies. For purposes of this subsection (a), in the case of the General Assembly, the "chief executive officer of the agency" means (i) the Senate Operations Commission for Senate general operations as provided in Section 4 of the General Assembly Operations Act, (ii) the Speaker of the House of Representatives for House general operations as provided in Section 5 of the General Assembly Operations Act, (iii) the Speaker of the House for majority leadership staff and operations, (iv) the Minority Leader of the House for minority leadership staff and operations, (v) the President of the Senate for majority leadership staff and operations, (vi) the Minority Leader of the Senate for minority staff and operations, and (vii) the Joint Committee on Legislative Support Services for the legislative support services agencies as provided in the Legislative Commission Reorganization Act of 1984.

(b)(1) Every voucher, as submitted by the agency or office in which it originates, shall bear (i) the signature of the officer responsible for approving and certifying vouchers under this Act and (ii) if authority to sign the responsible officer's name has been properly delegated, also the signature of the person actually signing the voucher.

(2) When an officer delegates authority to approve and certify vouchers, he shall send a copy of such authorization containing the signature of the person to whom delegation is made to each office that checks or approves such vouchers and to the State Comptroller. Such delegation may be general or limited. If the delegation is limited, the authorization shall designate the particular types of vouchers that the person is authorized to approve and certify.

(3) When any delegation of authority hereunder is revoked, a copy of the revocation of authority shall be sent to the Comptroller and to each office to which a copy of the authorization was sent.

The Comptroller may require State agencies to maintain signature documents and records of delegations of voucher signature authority and revocations of those delegations, instead of transmitting those documents to the Comptroller. The Comptroller may inspect such documents and records at any time.

(c) The Comptroller may authorize the submission of vouchers through electronic transmissions, on magnetic tape, or otherwise.

(d) This subsection may be cited as the Private Attorney Retention Sunshine Law and applies to each contract for legal services awarded on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly by an executive branch constitutional officer, a State agency listed in Section 5-15 of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois, or an executive branch board, commission, or authority authorized or created by State law or executive order of the Governor that (i) is reasonably expected to result in fees of $500,000 or more or is a contingency contract and (ii) was awarded through a selection method other than the competitive request for proposals method required by Section 35-30 of the Illinois Procurement Code or by the rules adopted under subsection (a) of Section 1-30 of that Code.

Each officer, agency, board, commission, or authority that awards a contract subject to this subsection must promptly file with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives copies of that contract. The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall distribute copies of each contract to the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively.

The Comptroller may not authorize payment under a contract subject to this subsection unless the executive branch constitutional officer or the chief executive officer of the agency, board, commission, or authority that awarded the contract certifies to the Comptroller that copies of the contract have been filed with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The Comptroller by rule shall provide for the manner and time of the certification.

When a contract is on a contingent fee basis, the State shall receive from counsel a statement of the hours worked on the case, expenses incurred, the aggregate fee amount, and a breakdown as to the hourly rate, based on hours worked divided into fees recovered, less expenses. In no case shall the State incur fees and expenses in excess of $1,000 per hour for legal services. In cases where a disclosure submitted in accordance with this paragraph of this subsection indicates an hourly rate in excess of $1,000 per hour, the fee amount shall be reduced to an amount equivalent to $1,000 per hour.

As used in this subsection, "executive branch constitutional officer" means the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Comptroller, and State Treasurer.

(Source: P.A. 89-360, eff. 8-17-95; 90-452, eff. 8-16-97.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2004.