Financial Information Regarding Requests for Bids and Proposals
Section 21-G:38
21-G:38 Ethics. –
I. From the time the bid is published until a contract is awarded, no bidder shall offer or give, directly or indirectly, any gift, expense reimbursement, or honorarium, as defined by RSA 15-B, to any elected official, public official, public employee, constitutional official, or family member of any such official or employee who will select, evaluate, or award an RFB, RFP, RFA, or similar request for submission. Any bidder that violates this section shall be subject to prosecution for an offense under RSA 640:2. Every RFB, RFP, RFA, or similar request for submissions issued by any state agency shall contain a provision stating that any bidder who has been convicted of an offense based on conduct in violation of this section, which has not been annulled, or who is subject to a pending criminal charge for such an offense, shall be disqualified from bidding on the RFB, RFP, RFA, or similar request for submission and every such bidder shall be disqualified from bidding on any RFB, RFP, RFA, or similar request for submission issued by any state agency. An agency which becomes aware of any such charge or conviction shall notify the department of administrative services, which department shall maintain a list of vendors reported to it and make that list available for agency reference on the state's internal intranet system. A bidder that was disqualified under this section because of a pending criminal charge which is subsequently dismissed, results in an acquittal, or is annulled, may notify the department of administrative services, which shall note that information on the list maintained on the state's internal intranet system, except that in the case of annulment, the information shall be deleted from the list.
II. No elected official, public official, public employee, constitutional official, or family member of any such official or employee who was, is, or will be involved in the selection, evaluation, or award of an RFB, RFP, RFA, or similar request for submission, shall accept any gift, expense reimbursement, or honorarium, as defined in RSA 15-B, from a bidder.
III. Each agency and executive branch official and employee shall avoid any situation that might constitute a conflict of interest, misuse of position, or otherwise violate the code of ethics under RSA 21-G:21-27.