During the 2023 General Assembly session, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee voted to pass-by-indefinitely SB 1115 patroned by Senator Bill DeSteph and refer it to the Department of General Services’ (DGS’) Public Body Procurement Workgroup (Workgroup) for study. The Workgroup was directed to study SB 1115, which would (i) require state public bodies to decrease the price of any bid offered by (a) seven percent for a “Virginia end product" and (b) two percent for a “U.S. end product;" (ii) require that when the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, after price preferences have been taken into account, who is a resident of Virginia is within five percent or $10,000, whichever is less, of the lowest responsive and responsible bidder who is a resident of another state, the bidder who is a resident of Virginia be given the opportunity to match the price of the bidder who is a resident of another state; and (iii) provide that if a state public body receives three or more bids from manufacturers that use materials or product components made in Virginia or in the U.S., such public body may only select from among such bids. The letter directing the study of SB 1115 set a deadline of November 1, 2023, for the Workgroup to submit a report with its findings and recommendations to the co-chairs of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and Senator DeSteph.

In response to this directive, stakeholders were identified, and six Workgroup meetings were held at which SB 1115 was discussed. This report summarizes the information presented to the Workgroup by stakeholders and subject matter experts and the Workgroup’s findings and recommendations.