Lawmakers, districts and vendors discuss cooperative purchasing and BOCES; committee asks for clearer statutory path

The Select Committee held an extended discussion on whether cooperative purchasing arrangements (BOCES and national cooperatives such as AEPA, Omnia and Sourcewell) can be used to procure goods and services for school facilities while complying with Wyoming procurement statutes. Representatives of Northeast Wyoming BOCES described how their cooperative works: they bid categories (HVAC, roofing, security, furniture) and maintain prequalified vendor catalogs that include product and pricing; for each local project the cooperative’s project manager inspects the site, determines scope and obtains quotes from prequalified vendors. Benny Leonard, director of cooperative purchasing at Northeast Wyoming BOCES, and vendor representative Dave Pickard (Tremco) said vendors on cooperative contracts register with state workforce services, advertise for labor when needed, and often use local subcontractors for installation. Contractor and roofing representatives emphasized potential efficiency gains. Director Dale McComie and other committee members raised statutory and oversight questions: which projects or funding “colors of money” are eligible for cooperative procurement, how cooperative agreements interact with prevailing‑wage and other statutory requirements, and how the state would maintain procurement documentation and audit trails. Testimony from engineers and contractor associations urged clarity and guardrails. The Wyoming Society of Professional Engineers asked that technical professionals be engaged early for complex systems that affect health, safety and welfare (HVAC, fire systems and structural components). The Associated General Contractors of Wyoming asked to be part of follow‑up discussions to avoid unintended harm to local Wyoming businesses. LSO staff and committee members discussed drafting statutory clarifications that would allow the State Construction Department and school districts to use cooperative purchasing when the cooperative’s qualification and solicitation process “substantially meet” Wyoming competitive‑bidding requirements; the committee asked staff to continue discussions with the department, BOCES and industry groups and to return options for language the committee could consider at the October meeting.