Last week, New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced that legislation he introduced to extends contract flexibility to allow local government bodies the ability to share purchasing, was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The new law will extend the authority of New York State municipalities, school districts, and other local governmental entities to purchase from federal and other states’ contracts for goods or services that were competitively bid, until July 31, 2023. Cooperative purchasing, also commonly referred to as “piggy-backing,” is a procurement method whereby if a government agency has already awarded a contract to one or more vendors for a good or service through a competitive process, the contract can be utilized by other government agencies on the same terms and conditions. The goal is to reduce the administrative costs and burdens and the costs related to goods and services. Under current statute, the authority to realize these savings will expire on July 31, 2021.
“I am proud to have passed this important legislation to help our municipalities continue to enter into cooperative purchasing agreements, which have resulted in significant savings to reduce the cost-pressures on their budgets and on taxpayers,” Mr. Thiele said in a press release this week. “I thank my colleagues for supporting this bill and am pleased to see it become law.”
Staff Writer on Apr 20, 2021