ART - NIGP Resolution 1995

This document is a joint resolution between the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) and the National Association of State Purchasing Officials (NASPO). The resolution discusses the revised Attachment "O" of OMB Circular A-102, issued by the Office of Management and Budget. The NIGP and NASPO agree with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy on the important elements of the amended Attachment, which include maximum reliance on state and local government grantee's management of their own procurements, rescinding non-conforming provisions of current agency regulations, reducing pre-award review burdens for grantees, reducing fraud and waste, and expanding coverage on small, minority, women, and labor surplus contracting. The resolution supports the Office of Federal Procurement Policy as the only arbiter of grantor-grantee procurement relationships and opposes systems certification of grantee procurement programs on a grantor agency-by-grantor agency basis. Instead, it supports the development and administration of a cooperative program by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, NIGP, and NASPO. The resolution also opposes certification criteria and source selection methodology based solely on the ABA Model Procurement Code. Additionally, the resolution reaffirms the support for the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Procurement Code for State and Local Government, recognizing the need for codifications of the best principles and practices of public purchasing. However, the NIGP and NASPO do not endorse all provisions of the Model Procurement Code but endorse the concept of the Code and advocate for clear-headed discretion in adapting those portions of the Code that require revision in existing state purchasing laws. The addendum states that the NIGP and NASPO should enter into discussions with the ABA Coordinating Committee to acquire the rights for printing, distribution, and sale of the suggested implementing regulations of the Model Procurement Code. They should also provide technical assistance to state and local governments in reviewing and analyzing existing procurement legislation and evaluating the Model Procurement Code. Furthermore, they should develop an educational and training program on the provisions of the Model Code and the suggested implementing regulations to be made available to state and local governmental activities in a seminar series on a reimbursable basis. Mr. Lewis E. Spangler, Executive Vice President of NIGP, is directed to enter into discussions with the appropriate officials of the ABA Coordinating Committee. The resolution was adopted by the NIGP Board of Directors on July 26, 1980, and ratified by the Board of Directors on November 11, 1995.