Administration says state contracts already available to schools; urges outreach rather than new staff

In a work session on SB580 — a bill that would establish a cooperative purchasing program for schools — the Department of Administrative Services told the House Education Funding Committee the state already maintains hundreds of statewide contracts that schools may use.

Charlie Arlinghouse, commissioner of administrative services, said the state runs roughly 480 statewide contracts for goods and services that local governments and certain nonprofits may purchase from. "We have something like 480 contracts in procurement which are statewide contracts... towns, school districts, SAUs ... can buy off of the statewide contract if they so choose," he said, urging the committee to pursue outreach and better publicity so districts know the option exists.

Arlinghouse cautioned that if the committee intended the state to actively procure specifically for many school needs it would require a substantial increase in staffing—he estimated the bureau would need six to ten additional purchasing agents to handle that workload. He suggested a lower‑cost step: notify schools and business administrators of existing contracts and update the state website guidance.

Committee members asked practical questions about contracting for service locations (for example, maintenance or delivery locations) and whether using state contracts counts as a competitively bid procurement for local bidding rules; witnesses said some national cooperative contracts (e.g., NASPO‑style contracts) already count as competitively procured and that invoice/payment routing remains local.

Members asked the administration to prepare a short plan for increased outreach to school business officers, and to clarify whether adding school purchases to statewide contract totals would affect executive‑council contract spending limits and reporting.