A study of the laws on public procurement in Virginia was authorized by Senate Joint Resolution 148, adopted at the 1979 Session of the General Assembly. That resolution directed the Secretary of Administration and Finance to establish a Task Force which would consider and report to the Committees on General Laws of the Senate and House of Delegates on the desirability or feasibility of public contract legislation applying uniformly to the State and cities, counties, and other political subdivisions. It would evaluate current and proposed procurement legislation in light of requirements for the handling of federal grants. It could compare the Virginia law with legislation adopted in other states and with the Model Procurement Code approved by the American Bar Association. The resolution required an Interim Report by December I, 1979, and a Final Report by November 1, 1980.

Across the nation, much attention has been devoted during the last decade to the adequacy of the statutory structures within which public procurement activities are conducted. In the early 1970's, for example, the Commission on Federal Procurement published a report which led to the establishment of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. In 1974, the Council of State Governments published a lengthy study of State and local government procurement. Shortly thereafter, the American Bar Association, with funding from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, undertook the development of a Model Procurement Code, a model state statute encompassing both State and local government procurement. The American Bar Association's House of Delegates approved the Model Procurement Code early in 1979. The federal government has also announced that the procurement systems of recipients of federal grants would have to meet certain standards. The final version of these standards was published in August, 1979, as Attachment O to OMB Circular A-102.

Thus, in embarking on this study, Virginia is participating in a national development, rather than merely reacting to deficiencies identified within the last year in the Division of Purchases and Supply, which is only one of several agencies with State procurement responsibilities. This study is more comprehensive, for it involves not a review of the procedures and policies of one agency, but an examination of the statutes under which all public agencies purchase materials, services, and construction.