ORS 200.045 [Operative Until 1/1/2024] Required Participants; Rebuttable Presumption of Responsibility and Good Faith Efforts to Encourage Participation In Public Contracts

• Library: Oregon Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through legislation effective January 1, 2024
• Year: 2023
• Citation: ORS 200.045

[(1) To determine whether a bidder that has failed to meet emerging small business enterprise contract requirements may be awarded the contract, the public contracting agency must decide whether the bidder's efforts to obtain participation by emerging small business enterprises were good faith efforts to meet the requirements.]

[(2) Performing all of the following actions by a bidder constitutes a rebuttable presumption that the bidder has made a good faith effort to satisfy the subcontracting requirement for emerging small businesses. It shall be a rebuttable presumption that the bidder has not made a good faith effort if the bidder has not acted consistently with such actions. Efforts that are merely superficial are not good faith efforts:]

(1) As used in this section, "required participant" means:

(a) A disadvantaged business enterprise;

(b) A minority-owned business, a woman-owned business or a business that a service-disabled veteran owns; or

(c) An emerging small business.

(2) If a public contract requires participation from a required participant and a bidder or proposer for the public contract is not a required participant, a contracting agency may award the public contract to the bidder or proposer only if the bidder or proposer:

(a) Demonstrates that the bidder or proposer is responsible; and

(b) Has made good faith efforts to encourage required participants to participate in the public contract.

(3) A contracting agency may rebuttably presume that for the purposes of this section a bidder or proposer is responsible and has made good faith efforts to encourage required participants to participate in the public contract if the bidder or proposer takes all of these actions:

(a) [The bidder attended any] Attends presolicitation or prebid meetings that [were scheduled by] the contracting agency scheduled to inform disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, businesses that service-disabled veterans own and emerging small [business enterprises] businesses of contracting and subcontracting or material supply opportunities available [on the project] in connection with a public contract;

(b) [The bidder identified and selected] Identifies and selects specific economically feasible units of the [project to be performed by] public contract that disadvantaged business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, businesses that service-disabled veterans own and emerging small [business enterprises] businesses may perform in order to increase the likelihood [of participation by such enterprises] that required participants will participate in the public contract;