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Senate Bill 497: parks lodging procurement exemption fails to clear committee

AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - SENATE · March 30, 2023
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Summary

Senate Bill 497, sponsored by Senator Bart Hester, would exempt state park lodging supplies from lowest-bid procurement rules so parks could select higher-quality vendors. Jeff King of State Parks said parks rely on cash operations (about $31.7 million last year) and that the change would let them compete with private hotels; some senators raised sole-source concerns and the do-pass motion did not receive enough votes.

Senate Bill 497, offered by Senator Bart Hester, would remove certain procurement restrictions for lodging facilities at state parks so park managers could choose vendors based on quality rather than strictly taking the lowest bid.

"We operate basically with our cash revenues," Jeff King, deputy director of the Division of State Parks, told the…

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