1. (a) The executive officer must select each firm from the QUL on the basis of a request for financing proposal as described in this section. A request for financing proposal must contain the date, time, and place for delivering proposals; a specific description of the services to be provided; the minimum qualifications required; any information required to evaluate the qualifications of respondents in accordance with this section; and the evaluation criteria specified in this section.
2. (b) Firms currently on the QUL shall be sent the request for financing proposal at least 21 days before delivery deadline specified for responses in the request for financing proposal.
3. (c) A firm must timely respond by submitting a proposal if the firm wishes to be considered. The firm must designate at time of the submission if it requests any trade secrets or proprietary data contained in the proposal to be considered as confidential under (h) of this section. The executive officer may only consider a response if a respondent has a business license valid in this state at the time designated as the delivery deadline in the request for financing proposal.
4. (d) A respondent may correct, modify, or withdraw its proposal by written request received by the executive officer before the time and date set for receipt of proposals. Unless excused by the executive officer for good cause, a request in this subsection must be delivered in a sealed envelope with the request for financing proposal number printed on the outside of the envelope. The request must be accompanied by written authorization by the respondent for the correction, modification, or withdrawal of its response. The corporation staff shall include all documents relating to the correction, modification, or withdrawal of a proposal in the file for the request.
5. (e) The executive officer may not accept proposals after the time and date set for receipt of proposals, and may not accept corrections, modifications, or withdrawals after the time and date set for opening of proposals, unless the executive officer determines that the delay was attributable to an error by the corporation staff.
6. (f) Corporation staff shall open proposals and proposal corrections and modifications at the time, date, and place designated in the request for financing proposal. The corporation staff shall tabulate the name of each respondent and other pertinent information.

7. (g) The executive officer shall designate an evaluation committee to evaluate the proposals received in response to the request for financing proposal. The evaluation committee must consist of three members of the corporation staff and the chair of the corporation, or one board member appointed by the chair. The corporation staff may consult with the corporation's financial advisor in reviewing proposals. The evaluation committee shall provide a recommendation to the executive officer on the selection of the underwriting firm to lead manage the proposed bond issuance and any other firms to co-manage the transaction. The executive officer shall consider the recommendations and make the final agency decision on the selection. The following criteria shall be used in evaluating the proposals and determining the underwriters' group:

   1. (1) the firm's experience and knowledge in the following areas:

      1. (A) education loan revenue bond financings;
      2. (B) relevant economic issues and concerns within this state and the education loan industry;
      3. (C) the programs and financings of the corporation;
   2. (2) the firm's underwriting capabilities;
   3. (3) the firm's marketing strengths;
   4. (4) the firm's availability and the responsiveness of assigned individuals, giving consideration to physical locations of the firm;
   5. (5) the underwriting spread or cost;
   6. (6) any other factors that the executive officer has determined are relevant to the specific transaction, program, or objective of the corporation and were specified in the request for proposals.
8. (h) Corporation staff shall notify respondents of the executive officer's determination under (g) of this section. The proposals are open for public inspection after the corporation staff notifies each respondent of the determination. To the extent that the respondent designated under (c) of this section and the executive officer concur, trade secrets and proprietary data contained in the proposal documents are confidential.
9. (i) The executive officer may cancel a request for financing proposal, reject any or all proposals in whole or in part, or delay the opening of proposals if the executive officer determines it to be in the best interest of the corporation to do so. The executive officer shall make the reasons for the cancellation, rejection, or delay a part of the file on the request for proposals.
10. (j) The provisions of AS 36.30.240 dealing with discussions with responsible offerors and revisions to proposals apply to requests for financing proposals.

(Eff. 7/31/2016, Register 219)