Drafter
Clerk 03/17/2025
Title
AN ORDINANCE related to establishing responsibility criteria for contracts for public works, tangible personal property, and services; and amending Ordinance 12138, Section 11, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.93.120 and Ordinance 12138, Section 19, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.93.190.
Body
PREAMBLE:
King County has a deep interest in the condition of workers employed by county suppliers and supports fair wages and fair benefits for those workers.
King County endorses small business and women and minority-owned business development.
Furthermore, King County supports organized labor policies and participation by labor unions and their signatory contractors in the administration of county business.
King County strives to protect the public's interest, and to fulfill the public trust, by engaging in business with bidders or proposers that are committed to, and consistently engage in, fair and responsible business practices evidenced by their record of compliance with applicable statutes, payment of fair wages and benefits to employees, as well as by their experience and reputation.
To that end, King County utilizes best practices to ensure, consistent with the features of each contract, that it awards contracts to responsible bidders.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Ordinance 12138, Section 11, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.93.120 are hereby amended to read as follows:
A. Contracts for architect and engineering services shall be solicited in accordance with chapter 39.80 RCW.
B. Contracts for professional services, other than architectural or engineering, shall be solicited using the procedures in chapter 39.80 RCW, with price as an additional element of consideration.
C. Public works contracts shall be solicited and awarded in accordance with the authority granted by state law, as in Titles 36 and 39 RCW and any additional requirements prescribed by county ordinance or executive policy.
D. Contracts for the lease or purchase of tangible personal property and the purchase of services and technical services shall be awarded in accordance with RCW 36.32.245, 36.32.253 and 39.04.190. If the manager determines that soliciting bids is not in the best interest of the county, the contract shall be awarded under a competitive proposal process.
E. Prequalification of tangible personal property and services may occur before procurement of the items. Under those circumstances, only tangible personal property and services that are determined to meet the qualifying criteria will be acceptable in the subsequent procurement.
F. All contracts that provide for reimbursement of contractor travel and meal expenses shall have a provision that limits such reimbursements to eligible costs based on the rates and criteria established in K.C.C. chapter 3.24 and federal travel rate regulations.
G. For all solicitations with a value of one hundred thousand dollars or more, the executive shall develop responsibility criteria, relevant to the proposed scope of work, to determine whether a bidder or proposer's historical compliance with environmental, worker safety, labor, and human trafficking laws, rules and regulations establishes the bidder or proposer to be a responsible contractor. For the purposes of this subsection, "historical compliance" means a minimum of three years preceding the submittal date for the solicitation. The executive, when developing responsibility criteria that evaluates historical compliance with environmental, worker safety, labor and human trafficking laws, rules and regulations, may also develop criteria to use in determining the responsibility of a bidder or proposer, that evaluates a bidder or proposer's record in providing employee benefits, including an employer or union provided retirement plan, health benefits and either paid parental leave or paid family leave, or both. The executive shall consider the following criteria, at minimum, in determining the responsibility of a bidder or proposer:
1. The bidder or proposer shall certify that it has a project labor harmony agreement, such as a project labor agreement, a community workforce agreement, or a collective bargaining agreement, containing a clause prohibiting strikes and lockouts during the agreement's term.
2. The bidder or proposer does not have wage or industrial insurance violations with the state of Washington and does not have unfair labor practice charges under the National Labor Relations Act;
3. The bidder or proposer is not debarred by the state of Washington;
4. The bidder or proposer has a valid employment security department number under Title 50 RCW;
5. The bidder or proposer has in force industrial insurance coverage for its employees working in the state of Washington under Title 51 RCW;
6. The bidder or proposer has a valid state of Washington excise tax registration number under Title 82 RCW;
7. The bidder or proposer can demonstrate technical ability, capacity, availability, and competence of the bidder or proposer to perform the required scope of work by providing evidence of past performance of similar work;
8. The bidder or proposer demonstrates past and current compliance with all applicable laws;
9. The bidder or proposer demonstrates financial capacity to support performance of the required scope of work. Financial capacity may be demonstrated through participation in the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, the Washington state Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises, or other bona fide small business development and support programs;
10. The bidder or proposer demonstrates a record of business integrity, customer service, and relevant experience evidenced by the bidder or proposer affirming the information contained in the application and documents is true and correct;
11. The bidder or proposer provides compensation to employees at or above the prevailing wage, where applicable, or the minimum wage prescribed by K.C.C. 2.94.020. The county shall score billable rates with wages and benefits higher than those with lower wages and benefits;
12. The bidder or proposer provides employee benefits including, but not limited to, health insurance and compensated leave;
13. The bidder or proposer demonstrates prioritization of worker safety and promotion of continuous improvement in the quality of the workforce by, at minimum, providing a mechanism to summon help for employees who work alone, continuing education or apprenticeship opportunities, and appropriate personal protective equipment;
14. The bidder or proposer demonstrates respect for the right of employees to bargain collectively and of commitment to remain neutral in labor organizing drives;
15. The bidder or proposer provides a complaint or grievance procedure for employees;
16. The bidder or proposer can demonstrate support for the growth of certified small businesses, federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program participants, and businesses certified by the Washington state Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises by providing evidence of past or planned engagement efforts such as subcontracting commitments, mentorship programs, capacity-building initiatives, or policies promoting small business inclusion;
17. The bidder or proposer demonstrates support for environmental and energy efficiency policies;
18. The bidder or proposer can certify it maintains a sexual harassment prevention policy and annual training practice for all employees that includes how to report sexual harassment;
19. The bidder or proposer can certify it: maintains an antiracist organizational policy, complies with labor and human trafficking laws, and maintains organizational policies indicating the bidder or proposer does not participate in federal immigration enforcement; and
20. The bidder or proposer is eligible to receive federal moneys. If the federal government has designated the bidder or proposer as ineligible to receive federal moneys due to organizational policies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, support for LGTBQIA2S+ individuals or initiatives, support for undocumented individuals, or other policies that King County supports, the county shall not consider this ineligibility in making its determination.
H. The criteria listed in subsection G. of this section shall be in addition to any other qualifications criteria stated in the solicitation documents. For solicitations to award a contract for public works, the criteria are deemed supplemental criteria for determining bidder responsibility under RCW 39.04.350. If the executive determines that the use of any of the criteria developed in accordance with subsection G. of this section might cause the county to be in violation of any state or federal procurement law, rule or regulation regarding competitive bidding or competitive proposals, that criteria shall not be included in a solicitation. The criteria shall neither be included in solicitations to award a contract to a government agency or public entity nor be included in solicitations to award any contract that the county enters as the administrator of a grant for a third party.
I. If council approval of a contract is requested under K.C.C. 4A.100.070.D.2.b. or is required under state law, the executive shall include in the legislative transmittal package submitted to the council a written explanation of the prospective contractor's response to the criteria in subsection G. of this section.
J. Where only one bid or proposal to the county's solicitation to award a contract for either public works, tangible personal property, or services is received, and in the determination of the executive the bidder or proposer fails to qualify as a responsible bidder or proposer, then the executive shall resolicit for public works, tangible personal property, or services, or enter into direct negotiations related to responsibility criteria before awarding the contract.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 12138, Section 19, as amended, and K.C.C. 2.93.190 are hereby amended to read as follows:
A. This section applies to contracts or procurements for tangible personal property and services including technical services for departments and offices. Contracts shall be solicited under the following competitive process:
1. The manager shall advertise solicitations for qualifications or proposals. The notice shall state the date and time for submissions. The solicitation for qualifications or proposals shall state the relative importance of price and all other evaluation factors;
2. Discussions may be conducted with responsible offerors to determine which proposals should be evaluated in more detail or which offerors should be requested to enter into negotiations, or both. Negotiations may be conducted concurrently or sequentially. The county may request clarifications and consider minor adjustments in the proposals in order to better understand the proposals and to qualify them for further consideration, though information discussed or obtained from one offeror shall not be disclosed to competing offerors during the discussions and negotiations. Except to the extent protected by either or both state and federal laws and regulations, proposals shall be considered public documents and available for review and copying by the public after a decision to award the contract is made; and
3. Award shall be made, if at all, to a responsible offeror or offerors whose proposal or proposals are determined to be the most advantageous to the county, taking into consideration, price and the other established evaluation factors. Whether an offeror meets all responsibility criteria listed under K.C.C. 2.93.120, subsection G., shall be considered over price in making a final determination on award.
B. Contracts shall be solicited under the following competitive process:
1. The manager shall advertise solicitations for qualifications or proposals. The notice shall state the date and time for submissions. The solicitation for qualifications or proposals shall state the relative importance of price and all other evaluation factors;
2. Discussions may be conducted with responsible offerors to determine which proposals should be evaluated in more detail or which offerors should be requested to enter into negotiations, or both. Negotiations may be conducted concurrently or sequentially. The county may request clarifications and consider minor adjustments in the proposals in order to better understand the proposals and to qualify them for further consideration, though information discussed or obtained from one offeror shall not be disclosed to competing offerors during the discussions and negotiations. Except to the extent protected by either or both state and federal laws and regulations, proposals shall be considered public documents and available for review and copying by the public after a decision to award the contract is made; and
3. Award shall be made, if at all, to a responsible offeror or offerors whose proposal or proposals are determined to be the most advantageous to the county, taking into consideration price and the other established evaluation factors. Whether an offeror meets all responsibility criteria listed under K.C.C. 2.93.120, subsection G., shall be considered over price in making a final determination on award.
C. The manager may use the small business accelerator established in K.C.C.
chapter 4.19 to solicit and obtain competitive sealed bids or proposals from only certified small contractors and suppliers.