Lobbying Law

Effective January 1, 2006, The New York State Finance Law was amended to regulate efforts to influence the procurement process. All State facilities must abide by strict procedural requirements relating to the award of any contract/purchase order for goods or services estimated to be in excess of $15,000.00.

All "contact" relating to potential awards in excess of $15,000.00 including in-person meetings and video conferences between vendors or their representatives and the awarding State entity is now regulated. Only designated Agency personnel may have contact with the vendors or their representatives or lobbyist. In the case of Stony Brook University, the only designated contact person/s are Procurement Office Staff. It is strictly prohibited for anyone else to have contact with the vendors during the procurement "restricted period."

The restricted period starts when the end-user's department submits their State requisition to the Procurement Office and ends when an award (Purchase Order/Contract) is officially forwarded to the vendor. During this restricted period, all inquiries must be referred to the designated Procurement Office contact.

Preferred Sources

The New York State Finance Laws require us to purchase available goods and services that meet our form, function and utility requirements from certain New York State "Preferred Sources" (NYS Department of Corrections Services, NYS Industries for the Blind, NYS Industries for the Disabled, Office of Mental Health and Veterans Industries) up to any dollar amount without competition. For more information, please visit the Office of General Services Preferred Sources webpage.  

Sole and Single Source Purchases

When competitive bidding is required but is not feasible because a commodity or service is available from only one vendor (sole source), from a limited number of vendors (single source), or due to an emergency—the campus must fully justify and document why that vendor was selected and why the price is reasonable.

Under State Finance Law, exceptions to competitive selection are permitted only in unusual circumstances, and the campus must include written justification in the Procurement Record supporting any sole source, single source, or emergency determination.

For a single source procurement, justification may include documentation showing that only a limited number of suppliers exist and that the selected vendor has substantial prior experience or provides products or services tailored to the SUNY environment.

For a sole source procurement, justification must demonstrate the unique nature of the requirement, explain how it was determined that only one vendor can meet the need, and show that the price is reasonable. One way to support a sole source determination is to advertise in the NYS Contract Reporter and receive only one response.

Any sole or single source purchase over $50,000 requires submission of a Contract Reporter Exemption Request to the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC).

Current State Commodity and Service Contracts (P-Contracts)

The NYS Office of General Services (Albany) awards Statewide centralized term contracts for many commodities and services at reasonable prices. Departments should take advantage of these whenever possible. For most items, an unlimited dollar amount can be purchased without the need for further competition or approvals. State contracts are available to view at the following link here.