Committee advances bill to exempt library cooperatives from some public-bidding rules

The State and Local Government Committee voted to release A4527 on May 24, a bill that would exclude local library cooperatives from the Local Public Contracts Law's definition of 'contract unit' for certain purchases and exempt cooperative goods and services from the standard public-bidding process while preserving bidding requirements for construction and infrastructure work.

Lynn Nowak of Porzio Governmental Affairs, representing four New Jersey library cooperatives, told the committee the cooperatives share resources and technology to generate savings for member libraries. Dave Hansen, executive director of the Bergen County Cooperative Library System, said the consortia help libraries afford professional development and technology and estimated conservative savings of "between $100,000 and $200,000 per library depending on its size in our collectives." He said cooperatives do not perform construction work and that the bill is intended to preserve cost-effective resource sharing.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about what the bill means by 'infrastructure' and about limits on construction-related procurements; staff and witnesses said construction and major infrastructure projects would still be subject to the Local Public Contracts Law and public bidding. After discussion and technical clarification, the committee moved and released the bill.

Support slips were noted from cooperative officials and stakeholder groups; the bill now moves to the Assembly floor for further consideration.