Okla. Stat. tit. 74, § 74-5155

A. Selection of Projects. Any proposer or responsible state

agency may submit to the Partnership Committee one or more proposals

for partnership projects in connection with any public service. The

Partnership Committee shall identify potential projects and public

services for which a public-private partnership may be appropriate

from those received from a proposer, a responsible state agency or

those identified by the Partnership Committee itself. The

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 74. State Government Page 1183

Partnership Committee shall select such projects based on the

partnership's potential to improve public operational efficiencies,

improve environmental performance, promote public safety, attract

private investment in the state and minimize governmental

liabilities.

B. Public-Sector Comparators. After the Partnership Committee

identifies a potential partnership for a public project or public

service, the Office of Public-Private Partnerships shall conduct a

public-sector comparator study of the potential partnership. The

Partnership Committee shall determine the scope of each public

sector comparator, which scope shall depend on the type of proposed

partnership and the nature of the public service under consideration

for the partnership. The following issues shall be considered as

components of a public sector comparator:

1. The definition of the need served by the proposed

partnership;

2. The cost required to meet the public need served by the

public service under traditional procurements or traditional state

agency operations;

3. An analysis of alternative methods for providing the public

services under consideration, including but not limited to design-

build, design-build-finance, design-build-finance-operate-maintain,

service contracts or leases and how the alternative method(s) would

meet the need served by the public service; and

4. An evaluation of the cost/benefit of using an alternative

method or public-private partnership to render a public service,

which cost/benefit analysis shall include:

a. the potential cost of utilizing an alternative method,

b. the operational and technological risks involved in

utilizing an alternative method,

c. a comparative analysis of rendering the public service

by allowing the responsible state agency to utilize

traditional methods,

d. the financial impact the partnership will have on the

responsible state agency, and

e. the impact a partnership would have on job formation,

economic growth and the community in which the public

service is to be rendered.

C. The Partnership Committee shall use the results of the

public sector comparator to determine which public services and

projects are appropriate for partnership. The Office of Public-

Private Partnerships shall publish on its website the public sector

comparator for each project to provide a public service for which a

request for qualifications is initiated.

D. The Office of Public-Private Partnerships shall publish

notice of the intent to enter into a contract for a partnership for

public service or related project and shall prepare a request for

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 74. State Government Page 1184

qualifications for private sector entities interested in serving as

proposers for the partnership. The notice shall notify interested

parties of the opportunity to submit their qualifications for

consideration and shall be published at least sixty (60) days prior

to the deadline for submitting those qualifications. The Office

also may advertise the information contained in the notice in

appropriate trade journals and otherwise notify parties believed to

be interested in providing the public service and in any related

project.

E. After inviting proposers to bid on the project, the

Partnership Committee shall evaluate the qualifications submitted

and may hold discussions with proposers to further explore their
ice

also may advertise the information contained in the notice in

appropriate trade journals and otherwise notify parties believed to

be interested in providing the public service and in any related

project.

E. After inviting proposers to bid on the project, the

Partnership Committee shall evaluate the qualifications submitted

and may hold discussions with proposers to further explore their

qualifications. Following this evaluation, the Partnership

Committee may determine a list of qualified proposers based on

criteria in the invitation and invite only those proposers to submit

a proposal.

F. The Office of Public-Private Partnerships shall prepare a

request for proposal, which may include proposal stipends and the

proposed partnership contract, both of which shall be approved by

the Partnership Committee. After the Partnership Committee's

approval of the request for proposal and the partnership contract,

the project shall be deemed an Approved Partnership Procurement.

G. Partnership contracts may contain the terms and conditions

to carry out and effect the purposes of this act, including the

duration of the contract, which shall not exceed ninety-nine (99)

years, rates or fees for the public services to be provided or

methods or procedures for the determination of such rates or fees,

standards for the public services to be provided, responsibilities

and standards for operation and maintenance of any related project,

required financial assurances, financial and other data reporting

requirements, bases and procedures for termination of the contract

and retaking of possession or title to the project, and events of

default and remedies upon default, including mandamus, a suit in

equity, an action at law or any combination of those remedial

actions. Partnership contracts may also include a requirement for

the delivery of performance and payment bonds required for all

construction activities and letters of credit, surety bonds or other

security in connection with the development or operation of the

qualifying project in the forms and amounts satisfactory to the

responsible governmental entity.

H. After proposals are received, the Office of Public-Private

Partnerships, using the criteria established in the request for

proposal by the Partnership Committee, shall evaluate the proposals

submitted and may hold discussions with proposers to further explore

their proposals, the scope and nature of the public service(s) they

would provide and the various technical approaches they may take

regarding the public service and any related project. Following

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this evaluation, the Partnership Committee shall select and rank no

fewer than three proposers that the Partnership Committee considers

to be the most qualified to enter into the contract, except when the

Partnership Committee determines that fewer than three qualified

proposers are available, in which case the Partnership Committee

shall select and rank them.

I. After the proposers have been ranked by the Partnership

Committee, the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise

Services (OMES) and the authorized representative of the responsible

state agency shall negotiate the contract with the proposer ranked

most qualified to provide the public service at a compensation

determined in writing to be fair and reasonable and to purchase,

lease or otherwise take a legal interest in the project.

J. Upon failure to negotiate a contract with the proposer

ranked most qualified, the Director of OMES shall inform the

proposer in writing of the termination of negotiations and may

enter, with the responsible state agency, into negotiations with the

proposer ranked next most qualified. If negotiations again fail,

the same procedure may be followed with each next most qualified

proposer selected and ranked, in order of ranking, until a contract
ser

ranked most qualified, the Director of OMES shall inform the

proposer in writing of the termination of negotiations and may

enter, with the responsible state agency, into negotiations with the

proposer ranked next most qualified. If negotiations again fail,

the same procedure may be followed with each next most qualified

proposer selected and ranked, in order of ranking, until a contract

is negotiated and executed or the request for proposal is withdrawn.

K. If the Director of OMES and the authorized representative of

the responsible state agency fail to negotiate a contract with any

of the ranked proposers, the Director of OMES, in consultation with

the responsible state agency, may terminate the process or select

and rank additional proposers based on their qualifications or

proposals, and negotiations shall continue as with the proposers

selected and ranked initially until a contract is negotiated.

L. The Director of OMES and the authorized representative of

the responsible state agency may jointly reject any and all

submissions of qualifications or proposals and may jointly terminate

the procurement process at any point.

M. The Director of OMES and the authorized representative of

the responsible state agency shall have the authority to make

commercially reasonable changes to the partnership contract approved

by the Partnership Committee. Any such contract may contain the

terms and conditions to carry out and effect the purposes of this

act.

N. Any submission not selected by the responsible state agency

shall be considered intellectual property that shall remain the

property of the proposer.