MACo Policy Associate Alex Butler yesterday testified to oppose SB 336 State and Local Procurement – Payment Practices before the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee. The bill would cut the payment window for county procurement contracts in half.

From the MACo Testimony:

SB 336 would require that counties change their procurement policies to issue payment to vendors within 15 days. Current law allows counties up to 30 days, and many need that time to ensure all policies and procedures are met before an invoice is submitted for payment. As these laws require balancing between “get it done correctly” versus “get it done quickly,” counties fear that SB 336 would skew toward more errors.

Local government expenditures are likely to increase significantly to adapt to the new mandate. Counties have necessary controls in place to ensure verification is complete and the correct payment is remitted to vendors. Often, invoices are reviewed by several different departments within the county. Counties may not be able to achieve invoice payment under the reduced timeframe, and many would have to add significant resources to their procurement and finance divisions in the form of new employees to issue all payments within 15 days.

Follow MACo’s advocacy efforts during the 2021 legislative session on MACo’s Legislative Tracking Database.