Department of Administrative Services

Procurement Services

Procedures, Guidelines and Ensuring Fairness and Transparency

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stipulates strict compliance to rules of fairness and transparency throughout the procurement process. The attached checklist is an excellent guide for ensuring that you meet established standards. It will be very important for you to document your procurement process. All formal and informal bids must be open, fair and transparent.

Additionally, DAS Procurement requires state agencies to follow this procurement policy. When spending the taxpayer’s money, it’s critical to do it the right way.

DAS Procurement has created several templates and documents to assist in the entire purchasing process and encourages other public entities to apply similar processes.

• ARRA Terms and Conditions
• RFP Template
• RFB Template
• Assurance of Compliance with Ethical Guidelines and Procedures
• Evaluation Process Guidelines
• How to post bids on the Bid Opportunities website
• Terms and Conditions Template for Goods
• Terms and Conditions Template for Services

DAS can help with your recovery

The ARRA has provided state and local governments with an unprecedented amount of funds to be spent transparently and efficiently. As the principle purchasing authority for the State of Iowa Executive Branch, DAS Procurement is ready to assist other state, county and local agencies – including independent school districts – in utilizing federal recovery funds efficiently and in accordance with established policies and rules.

DAS has competitively bid contracts with hundreds of vendors for a wide variety of products and services. Additionally, cooperative contracts established by the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) and the Western States Contract Alliance (WSCA), are available to political subdivisions.

State of Iowa, NASPO and WSCA cooperative contracts are competitively bid, and ready for your use today. Governments can choose to purchase from a variety of contracts including:

• Computers, servers and printers
• Laboratory products
• Public safety communication equipment
• Tires
• Copiers
• Office supplies
• Vehicles
• And many more ...

For a full listing of NASPO and WSCA contracts, go to www.naspo.org/current_contracts.cfm.

If you have specific questions about purchasing from NASPO or WSCA contracts, email wncoopdt@amrms.com.

To contact the procurement officer for the State of Iowa, email debbie.oleary@iowa.gov.