Section 73. There shall be established a special public-private partnership infrastructure oversight commission to comment on and approve all requests for proposals for design-build-finance-operate-maintain or design-build-operate-maintain services, pursuant to section 59.
The commission shall have 7 members, none of whom shall be employees of the executive branch or members or employees of the legislature for a period of at least 2 years prior to his appointment. The commission shall include: 4 members to be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be a representative from the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists and 3 of whom shall reside in different geographic regions of the commonwealth for terms of 2 years; 1 member to be appointed by the president of the senate for a term of 2 years; 1 member to be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives for a term of 2 years; 1 member to be appointed by the state treasurer, but who shall not be an employee thereof, for a term of 2 years. Each member of the commission shall be an expert with experience in the fields of transportation law, public policy, public finance, management consulting, transportation or organizational change; provided, however, that 1 of the members appointed by the governor shall be an expert in the field of public finance, 1 member appointed by the governor shall be an expert in the field of transportation. One of the members shall be appointed by the governor to serve as chairperson of the commission. The members appointed by the governor may be eligible for reappointment; provided, however, that no such member shall serve for more than 3 terms. No member shall have served as a legislative agent for the period of 5 years prior to his appointment.
No member shall have been a registered legislative agent, as defined in section 39 of chapter 3 for a period of at least 5 years prior to his appointment, no member shall have been a member or employee of the general court or an employee of the executive branch for a period of 2 years prior to his appointment, and no director shall have been employed by an organization that has business before the department, or any predecessor agency or authority, for a period of at least 2 years prior to his appointment.
Whenever the department notifies the commission of its intent to issue a request for proposal for design-build-finance-operate-maintain or design-build-operate-maintain services, the department shall submit a draft of the request for proposal to the commission for its review and approval. As provided in section 63, no request for proposal shall be issued by the department for a public-private agreement for design-build-finance-operate-maintain or design-build-operate-maintain services without the commission’s written approval. The commission shall provide an initial written response to the request for proposal within 15 days.
For each request for proposal for design-build-finance-operate-maintain or design-build-operate-maintain services, the commission shall report on issues surrounding the request for proposal including, but not limited to: (1) the status of current employees; (2) the policy and regulatory structure for overseeing a privately operated transportation facility and on-going legislative oversight; (3) issues of taxation, profit-sharing and resolution of new revenue producing ideas; (4) advertising and marketing; (5) use of new technologies; (6) lease terms and termination clauses; (7) additional responsibilities by both the private infrastructure operator and the commonwealth during the lease period; (8) the financial valuation of the commonwealth transportation facility; and (9) the anticipated advantages of entering into the anticipated public-private agreement for design-build-finance-operate-maintain or design-build-operate-maintain services.
The report shall be delivered within 30 days of the commission’s approval of a request for proposal for design-build-finance-operate-maintain or design-build-operate-maintain services to the secretary for administration and finance, the house committee on ways and means, the senate committee on ways and means, the chairmen of the joint committee on transportation and the state auditor.
In order to submit the commission’s written approval of a request for proposal for design-build-finance-operate-maintain or design-build-operate-maintain services to the state auditor, the commission’s process shall be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of sections 57 to 60, inclusive.
Whenever the comments and recommendations of the state auditor are required for any action by the department under sections 57 to 60, inclusive, that approval shall be deemed to have been granted within 30 days of submission thereof, unless the state auditor has communicated his disapproval to the department, in writing. The state auditor’s report shall include reasons why such proposed request for proposal is financially detrimental to the commonwealth and how the commission erred in its findings.
Any research, analysis or other staff support that the commission reasonably requires shall be provided by the department.
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