PRINTER'S NO. 1345
No. 1228 Session of 1993
INTRODUCED BY SERAFINI, BUNT, FARMER, LEH, ALLEN, ARMSTRONG,
BAKER, BARLEY, BIRMELIN, BROWN, CESSAR, CHADWICK, CLARK,
CLYMER, L. I. COHEN, CORNELL, DEMPSEY, DRUCE, EGOLF,
FAIRCHILD, FARGO, FICHTER, FLICK, GEIST, GERLACH, GLADECK,
GODSHALL, GRUPPO, HARLEY, HUTCHINSON, KING, LAUB, LAWLESS,
LEE, MARSICO, NAILOR, O'BRIEN, PERZEL, PETTIT, PHILLIPS,
PICCOLA, PITTS, REBER, REINARD, ROHRER, RUBLEY, RYAN,
SAURMAN, SCHULER, B. SMITH, S. H. SMITH, D. W. SNYDER, STEIL,
STRITTMATTER, J. TAYLOR, M. N. WRIGHT AND HERSHEY,
APRIL 19, 1993
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 19, 1993
AN ACT
1 Providing for privatization of governmental functions, for
2 duties of the Department of General Services and other
3 executive agencies and for reports to the General Assembly.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pennsylvania
8 Government Privatization Act.
9 Section 2. Declaration of policy.
10 The General Assembly finds and declares that the inherent
11 rights of the citizens of this Commonwealth, as protected by
12 their Constitution, are best fostered when State government is
13 limited in its role to the provision of services that are
14 essential to government. Government should not engage in
1 activities that exceed its appropriate responsibilities, nor
2 should government engage in activity in competition with private
3 enterprise unless there is an overriding public interest which
4 is served by the provision of a particular service by the
5 government. The General Assembly further finds and declares:
6 (1) that State government has expanded beyond its
7 appropriate scope of activity;
8 (2) that this growth of State government activity has
9 greatly outpaced the ability of Commonwealth taxpayers to
10 support it;
11 (3) that the essential functions of State government are
12 competing for increasingly scarce resources;
13 (4) that the tax burden on Commonwealth citizens can be
14 controlled and the level of State expenditures can be reduced
15 through a process of defining and restructuring State
16 governmental activities and responsibilities; and
17 (5) that a careful study and review of State government
18 agencies and activities is needed in order to determine which
19 of their objectives can be more appropriately and efficiently
20 fulfilled through alternative means.
21 Section 3. Definitions.
22 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
23 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
24 context clearly indicates otherwise:
25 "Activity." An organized function of State government
26 undertaken by an agency as a result of a statute or regulation,
27 or by an order or directive of the Governor.
28 "Agency." A department, authority, board, commission or
29 agency of the Commonwealth.
30 "Contracting." The entering into agreements by the
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1 Commonwealth with private enterprise for the provision of goods
2 or services.
3 "Divestiture." The elimination, in whole or in part, of a
4 nonessential government activity, which includes any activity
5 that need not be performed by the Commonwealth and that can be
6 fully discharged and shed as a governmental activity.
7 "Franchise." A form of contracting that gives monopoly
8 privileges to a private enterprise in order to provide a
9 government service in a given geographical area.
10 "Private enterprise." An individual, firm, partnership,
11 joint venture, corporation, association or other legal entity
12 engaged in the manufacturing, processing, sale, offering for
13 sale, rental, leasing, delivery, dispensing, distributing or
14 advertising of goods or services for profit.
15 "Privatize." To act to reduce State government to essential
16 activities through contracting, grants and subsidies,
17 franchises, asset sales or divestiture.
18 Section 4. Privatization activity report.
19 (a) General rule.--The Governor shall, within six months of
20 the enactment of this legislation, present to the General
21 Assembly a report which inventories current activities of
22 Commonwealth agencies involving contracts or franchises with
23 private enterprise. In subsequent years this report shall be
24 presented in conjunction with the Governor's annual budget
25 presentation.
26 (b) Contents of report.--The report shall contain, on an
27 agency-by-agency basis, a listing of all contracts for services
28 provided by private enterprises including the name of the
29 private enterprise, a description of the service rendered, the
30 contracted amount for the service and the length of the
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1 contract.
2 Section 5. Duties of agencies.
3 Every department, board, commission, authority or other State
4 agency shall promptly furnish such information as the Governor
5 shall request as to its activities in order to complete the
6 inventory required under section 4.
7 Section 6. Presumption.
8 In the absence of documentable evidence to the contrary, an
9 activity of a State agency which is contained in section 7 shall
10 be assumed to be a candidate for privatization. It shall be the
11 responsibility of the Governor and the various departments and
12 agencies of State government to recommend to the General
13 Assembly steps to implement activities to reduce the size and
14 functions of State government.
15 Section 7. Activities subject to contracting.
16 The following activities, to the extent that they are not
17 already privatized, shall be contracted, unless the Governor
18 shows cause why they should not be:
19 (1) General government operations (all agencies, as
20 applicable):
21 (i) building maintenance and custodial services;
22 (ii) data management;
23 (iii) printing and graphic services;
24 (iv) computer maintenance;
25 (v) building security (except the Capitol Complex);
26 (vi) transcript typing services;
27 (vii) courier services;
28 (viii) data collection;
29 (ix) office renovation and moving services;
30 (x) photographic services;
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1 (xi) education programs;
2 (xii) technical consultants and technical
3 assistance;
4 (xiii) claims adjusting;
5 (xiv) mail services;
6 (xv) workers' compensation administration; and
7 (xvi) facility and property management.
8 (2) Department of Agriculture:
9 (i) egg inspections;
10 (ii) livestock grading; and
11 (iii) testing.
12 (3) Civil Service:
13 (i) testing;
14 (ii) training; and
15 (iii) arbitration.
16 (4) Department of Commerce:
17 (i) advertising.
18 (5) Department of Corrections:
19 (i) medical and dental services;
20 (ii) drug treatment;
21 (iii) diagnostic testing;
22 (iv) inmate transportation;
23 (v) refuse removal;
24 (vi) pharmacy operations;
25 (vii) optometric services;
26 (viii) inmate education;
27 (ix) halfway houses;
28 (x) food and laundry services;
29 (xi) mental health services; and
30 (xii) vocational counseling.
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1 (6) Department of Education:
2 (i) testing materials and analysis; and
3 (ii) bibliographic services.
4 (7) Department of Environmental Resources:
5 (i) laboratory testing services;
6 (ii) permit reviews;
7 (iii) hazardous waste clean-up;
8 (iv) laboratory analysis; and
9 (v) asbestos removal.
10 (8) Department of General Services:
11 (i) electrical services;
12 (ii) painting services;
13 (iii) landscaping and groundskeeping;
14 (iv) plumbing services;
15 (v) elevator maintenance and repair services;
16 (vi) heating and air conditioning mechanical
17 maintenance and repair services;
18 (vii) land appraising and boundary surveying;
19 (viii) pest control;
20 (ix) snow removal; and
21 (x) fleet management and maintenance.
22 (9) Department of Health:
23 (i) drug and alcohol abuse programs;
24 (iii) AIDS programs;
25 (iii) environmental health programs;
26 (iv) lead poisoning programs;
27 (v) health facilities; and
28 (vi) research.
29 (10) Department of Insurance:
30 (i) actuarial reviews.
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1 (11) Department of Labor and Industry:
2 (i) vocational training;
3 (ii) job training; and
4 (iii) services for the disabled.
5 (12) Department of Public Welfare:
6 (i) mental health programs;
7 (ii) medical assistance;
8 (iii) health facilities;
9 (iv) welfare services;
10 (v) claims processing for medical assistance;
11 (vi) audits;
12 (vii) food stamp issuance; and
13 (viii) accreditation of life care facilities.
14 (13) Department of Revenue:
15 (i) debt collection.
16 (14) Department of State:
17 (i) micro-filming; and
18 (ii) professional examinations.
19 (15) Department of Transportation:
20 (i) highway maintenance;
21 (ii) design and planning;
22 (iii) highway construction; and
23 (iv) rest area maintenance.
24 Section 8. Procedure.
25 (a) Responsibilities of Department of General Services.--The
26 Department of General Services shall be responsible for
27 overseeing the implementation of this act. The department shall
28 distribute to all agencies, not later than 90 days after the
29 effective date of this act and not later than August 1 of each
30 year thereafter, a request to compile information on activities
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1 or functions which each agency has determined can be performed
2 by the private sector either by franchise, contract,
3 divestiture, or other means determined to be the most effective
4 to rid that agency of a function.
5 (b) Privatization surveys.--Agencies shall send to the
6 Department of General Services, not later than 120 days after
7 the effective date of this act and not later than September 1 of
8 each year thereafter, completed annual privatization surveys.
9 These surveys shall include the results of the analysis
10 performed by each agency according to the requirements
11 established in section 9.
12 (c) Report to General Assembly.--The Department of General
13 Services shall be responsible for compiling the results of these
14 surveys and the preparation of a report to be presented by the
15 Governor to the General Assembly in conjunction with the annual
16 submission of the budget.
17 Section 9. Responsibilities of State agencies.
18 (a) Analysis of functions.--Every executive agency of State
19 government under the control of the Governor shall be
20 responsible for analyzing the functions performed by that agency
21 to determine whether it is cost effective for that agency to
22 reduce or eliminate functions by returning the delivery of these
23 services to the private sector.
24 (b) Requests for proposals.--In order to perform the
25 analysis required under this section, each agency shall be
26 required to prepare requests for proposals to be issued to the
27 private sector which invite private companies and individuals to
28 indicate whether they have the capability to perform a
29 particular function and the amount for which the bidder
30 determines it can perform the service or function.
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1 (c) Eligibility for privatization.--If the agency has a
2 responsible bidder to perform a function at a cost less than the
3 cost currently paid by the agency to perform the function as a
4 State function, the agency shall consider the function eligible
5 for privatization. If the bids for the service provision are
6 greater than the cost of the program as currently performed by
7 the agency, the function shall not be considered eligible for
8 private contracting and the agency shall make note of that fact
9 in the response required under section 8.
10 Section 10. Effective date.
11 This act shall take effect immediately.
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