Section 41-16-161 Governmental Entities Prohibited from Entering into Contracts with Companies That Meet Certain Criteria; Waiver.
AI-assisted research summary: A governmental entity generally may not contract for goods or services with a company unless the contract includes the company’s written verification that it does not and will not engage in economic boycotts during the contract term, subject to listed exceptions and a waiver process.
(a) This section applies only to a contract that meets both of the following: (1) Is between a governmental entity and a company with 10 or more full-time employees. (2) Will pay or may pay a company at least fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) over the term of the contract wholly or partly from public funds of the governmental entity; provided, however, this subdivision shall apply separately to all companies in a multiple-party contract. (b) Except as provided by subsection (c), a governmental entity may not enter into a contract with a company for goods or services unless the contract contains a written verification from the company that the company, without violating controlling law or regulation, does not and will not, during the term of the contract, engage in economic boycotts. (c) Subsection (b) does not apply to a contract related to the issuance, incurrence, or management of debt obligations, to the deposit, custody, management, borrowing, or investment of funds, or to the procurement of insurance or other financial products, or financial advisory services, or a contract that would prevent the governmental entity from obtaining the supplies or services to be provided in an economically practicable manner. (d) If a governmental entity is unable to comply with this section without significantly increasing costs or limiting the quality of options or services available, or both, the governmental entity may waive the requirements upon a finding, posted on the governmental entity’s publicly available website, that: (1) The governmental entity has made reasonable and good faith efforts to obtain services meeting the requirements of this section and has included the requirements in the governmental entity’s minimum selection criteria. (2) Based on objective information available to the governmental entity, the cost appears significantly higher than the services available to similarly oriented governmental entities not subject to similar requirements, or the quality of services or options appears significantly lower than the quality of services available to similarly oriented governmental entities not subject to similar requirements, or both. (3) The governmental entity determines that a waiver is clearly in the best interest of the public.