(a) The Office of State Procurement shall be responsible for developing rules governing implementation of this subchapter.
(b) As used in this subchapter:
(1) “Commodities” means all property, including without limitation equipment, printing, stationery, supplies, and insurance, but excluding real property, leases on real property, or a permanent interest in real property;
(2) “Fiscal year” means July 1 of one (1) year through June 30 of the next year;
(3) “Individuals with disabilities” means those persons who have a medically or psychiatrically determined physical, mental, or developmental disability constituting a substantial vocational handicap;
(4) “Ordering office” means any state department, independent establishment, board, commission, bureau, service, or division of state government and any wholly owned state corporation;
(5) “Products”, for purposes of this subchapter, means commodities or services wherein the price of the commodities includes at least twenty percent (20%) value added when the work center is awarded a contract using the ten percent (10%) preference, and in the case of services, that they are performed by individuals with disabilities;
(6)
(A) “Services” means the furnishing of labor, time, or effort by a contractor, not involving the delivery of a specific end product other than reports which are merely incidental to the required performance.
(B) “Services” shall not include employment agreements, collective bargaining agreements, or architectural or engineering contracts requiring approval of the Building Authority Division;
(7) “Sheltered workshop” means a work center which has:
(A) Certification from the United States Department of Labor as a sheltered workshop; and
(B) Been licensed by the Division of Developmental Disabilities Services or certified by Arkansas Rehabilitation Services;
(8)
(A) “Work center” means any facility certified by Arkansas Rehabilitation Services where any manufacture or handiwork is carried on and which is operated for the primary purpose of providing evaluation, training, and gainful employment to individuals with disabilities in Arkansas:
(i) As an interim step in the rehabilitation process for those who cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market; or
(ii) During such time as employment opportunities for them in the competitive labor market do not exist.
(B) “Work center” includes without limitation:
(i) A sheltered work center; and
(ii) A work center for the blind; and
(9) “Work center for the blind” means a facility certified by the Division of State Services for the Blind where any manufacture, handiwork, or provision of services is carried on and that is operated to provide evaluation, training, and gainful employment to individuals in the State of Arkansas eligible for services from the Division of State Services for the Blind:
(A) As an interim step in the rehabilitation process for those who cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market;
(B) During such time as employment opportunities for individuals in the State of Arkansas eligible for service from the Division of State Services for the Blind in the competitive labor market do not exist; or
(C) For whom such placement represents informed choice as appropriate employment at a competitive wage.
(c) All state agencies as defined in § 19-11-203 are required to purchase their requirements of needed available and suitable products and purchase suitable services from nonprofit work centers for individuals with disabilities, unless such commodities and services are authorized by prior legislation for production in another state agency, department, or institution.
(d)
(1) The Office of State Procurement shall issue to all state agency purchasing agents a schedule of commodities and services made by the work center and the conditions under which they are to be procured from the workshops.
(2) The schedule shall include the item or service description.
(e) Arkansas Rehabilitation Services and the Division of State Services for the Blind shall undertake the inspection on a continuing basis of the workshops certified by each respective state agency to determine that they operate in accordance with the requirements of the statute and the rules of this section.
(f)
(1)
(A) In order to qualify for participation in the program as a work center, an organization shall submit an application to the Office of State Procurement.
(B) If required for all vendors, there should be included a list of the commodities and services offered for sale to the state.
(2) Work centers shall:
(A) Furnish commodities and services in strict accordance with the allocation and government order;
(B) Maintain records of wages paid, hours of employment, and sales;
(C) Make available pertinent books and records of the state agency for inspection at any reasonable time to representatives of Arkansas Rehabilitation Services or the Division of State Services for the Blind, as applicable; and
(D)
(i) Submit to Arkansas Rehabilitation Services or the Division of State Services for the Blind, as applicable, by September 1 an annual report for the preceding fiscal year.
(ii) This report shall include data on individuals with disabilities who are workers, wages and wage supplements, hours of employment, sales, whether the workshop requires a facilities sheltered workshop certificate from the United States Department of Labor and special minimum rates authorized where such certificate is held, and such other relevant information as may be required.
(g) When a commodity or service is identified in the schedule of work center-made commodities and services as being available through the Office of State Procurement, it shall be obtained in accordance with the requisitioning procedures of the supplying state agency.
(h) An ordering office may purchase from a nonworkshop source commodities or services listed in the schedule of commodities and services made by the work center in any of the following circumstances:
(1) Necessity requires delivery within the specified period, and the work center cannot give assurance of positive availability;
(2) When commodities listed on the schedule of work center-made commodities can be purchased from a non-work-center source by the state agency for a price more than ten percent (10%) lower than commodities made by the work center included in the schedule; or
(3) Services offered by any work center shall be procured by any state agency in accordance with this section at a price not more than ten percent (10%) above the lowest price submitted from a non-work-center source.
(i) Product commodities made by a work center shall be delivered in accordance with the terms of the purchase order.
(j) When a workshop fails to comply with the terms of a government order, the ordering office shall make reasonable efforts to negotiate an adjustment before taking action to cancel the order.
(k) Any alleged violation of these rules shall be investigated by the Office of State Procurement, which shall notify the work center concerned and afford it an opportunity to submit a statement of facts and evidence.