(1) When the department, or any entity or enterprise within the department, determines that it is in the best interest of the public to resolve a protest filed in accordance with s. 120.57(3) of the award of a contract being procured pursuant to s. 337.11 or related to the purchase of personal property or contractual services being procured pursuant to s. 287.057, through a settlement that requires the department to pay a nonselected responsive bidder a total sum of $1 million or more, including any amount paid pursuant to s. 334.049, any amount paid pursuant to s. 337.11(8) which is not included in the department’s work program approved by the Legislature as part of the General Appropriations Act, or any amount paid pursuant to any other law, the department must:

(a) Document in a written memorandum by the secretary the specific reasons that such settlement and payment to a nonselected responsive bidder is in the best interest of the state. The written memorandum must be included and maintained in the department’s permanent files concerning the procurement and must include:

1. A description of the property rights, patent rights, copyrights, trademarks, or the engineering design or other design work that the department will acquire or retain as a result of such settlement; and
2. The specific appropriation in the existing General Appropriations Act which the department intends to use to provide such payment.

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 337.1101

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(b) Provide prior written notification to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Senate and House of Representatives minority leaders, the chair and vice chair of the Legislative Budget Commission, and the Attorney General at least 5 business days, or as soon thereafter as practicable, before the department makes the settlement agreement final. Such written notification must include the written memorandum required pursuant to paragraph (a).
(c) Provide, at the time settlement discussions regarding any such payment have begun in earnest, written notification of such discussions to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Senate and House of Representatives minority leaders, the chair and vice chair of the Legislative Budget Commission, and the Attorney General.
(2) The department may not pledge any current or future action by another branch of state government as a condition of any procurement action. Any settlement that commits the state to spending any amount in excess of current appropriations, to the appropriation of funds in a subsequent fiscal year, or to policy changes inconsistent with current state law must be contingent upon and subject to legislative appropriation or statutory amendment. The department may agree to use its efforts to procure legislative funding or statutory amendments.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 337 Contents