HB382 Alabama 2024 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Marcus ParamoreRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2024

Title

Competitive bidding; contract protest procedures revised.

Summary

HB382 revises Alabama's competitive bidding protest rules and expands bidder and contractor disclosure requirements.

What This Bill Does

It tightens protest timelines for solicitations and awards, adds stay provisions after a protest or final decision, and establishes a process for settlement, administrative review, and appeals. It creates and clarifies disclosure requirements for bids, contracts, and grants that exceed certain dollar thresholds, including what must be disclosed and who must disclose. It requires disclosures to be public records, allows electronic filing and shared systems, and provides exemptions for certain contracts or entities. It also sets thresholds and rules for when the disclosure requirements apply and who must file, along with an effective date of June 1, 2024.

Who It Affects

• Prospective and actual bidders/offerors for state contracts, who gain new or revised protest rights, deadlines, and potential stays during procurement.
• Vendors, contractors, grant recipients, and their consultants or lobbyists, and the state agencies that award contracts, who must file and manage disclosure statements, face public-record requirements, and may use electronic filing and oversight procedures.

Key Provisions

• Protest timelines and process: protests of solicitations must be filed within 14 days of issuance/amendment; protests of awards within 14 days of award or notice of award; seven days to file a formal protest; stays of solicitation or award for five days after final decision, with narrow exceptions for immediate action to protect state interests; settlements, administrative reviews within 14 days, and potential appeals to the Director of Finance.
• Disclosure requirements and thresholds: the article applies to grants over $25,000 or contracts over $5,000 that involve direct financial gain; exemptions include certain contracts with publicly traded companies, non-competitive gas/water/electric services, and economic development incentives; in competitive bids, disclosure is required only from the recipient within 30 days of award; an annual comprehensive disclosure option is allowed for multiple awards in a year.
• Disclosure content and certification: disclosures must include names/addresses of public officials or relatives who may benefit, description of potential financial benefits, names/addresses of paid consultants or lobbyists, and must be sworn or certified with an authorized signer and perjury statement.
• Filing, retention, and accessibility: disclosures must be filed with the awarding entity, retained, and made available for audit; a copy may be submitted to a legislative oversight committee; electronic filing and shared systems may be used to satisfy disclosure requirements; disclosures are public records.
• Exemptions and non-applicability: not applicable to entities that do not receive state funds or to certain inter-agency contracts; the act specifies when it does and does not apply.
• Effective date: the act takes effect June 1, 2024.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Competitive Bidding