(b) Issuance of RFP.

1. (1) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall prepare and issue an RFP and evaluate proposals in accordance with this section.
2. (2) Failure by the Office of the Arkansas Lottery to comply with any technical requirement of this section shall not alone be deemed a defect requiring reissuance of the RFP or rejection of all bids, offers, quotes, or proposals, such decision remaining in the discretion of the Office of the Arkansas Lottery.

(c) RFP document. An RFP shall set forth provisions including:

1. (1)

   1. (A) A clear description of the scope of products and services.
   2. (B) The technical requirements, scope, and other essential requirements shall be in sufficient detail to minimize the likelihood of requests by vendors for clarification;
2. (2) Complete directions about making proposals;

3. (3)

   1. (A) An RFP schedule of events that specifies all deadline requirements.
   2. (B) Vendors must be given a reasonable time, as determined by the Office of the Arkansas Lottery, to consider the required scope of products and services and the proposal evaluation factors before proposals must be submitted;
4. (4) RFP requirements and proposal restrictions;

5. (5)

   1. (A) A description of the factors that will be used to evaluate the proposals.
   2. (B) Factors may include but are not limited to vendor qualifications, experience, technical approach, minority-owned business or female-owned business participation, and cost; and
6. (6) A declaration of certain contract terms and conditions which shall be required by the Office of the Arkansas Lottery.

(d) RFP review and approval. Each RFP must be reviewed and approved by the Director of the Office of the Arkansas Lottery prior to publication against the criteria of sound business principles, adequacy of the scope of products and services description, and adequacy of the RFP's assurance of:

1. (1) Fairness to potential vendors;
2. (2) Achievement of procurement objectives; and
3. (3) Protection of the Office of the Arkansas Lottery’s interests.

(e) RFP publication.

1. (1) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall publish each RFP solicitation on the Office of the Arkansas Lottery’s web page and, if desired by the Office of the Arkansas Lottery, the Office of State Procurement website established for such solicitations.
2. (2) Notice of the solicitation may also be published in any newspaper or other relevant trade publication.
3. (3) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall further solicit interest in each RFP by sending a formal notice of such or notice that the specific RFP has been released to a documented list of potential vendors, and if the list of potential vendors are comprised mainly of Arkansas businesses, such notice must be published in a newspaper with statewide circulation.
4. (4) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall compile the list of potential vendors from those known to the Office of the Arkansas Lottery’s staff.

5. (5) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall determine the number of vendors to include on the list by considering the:

   1. (A) Nature of the procurement;
   2. (B) Anticipated amount of the resulting contract; and
   3. (C) Number of known vendors.
6. (6) To the extent practicable, the Office of the Arkansas Lottery will strive to compile lists of potential offerors which are minority-owned businesses and female-owned businesses.
7. (7) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery will actively solicit bids from such businesses or otherwise make such businesses aware of opportunities to bid for major procurement contracts.
8. (8) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery is not required to send a solicitation notice to more than a total of three (3) vendors, provided, however, that the Office of the Arkansas Lottery may send a solicitation notice to fewer than three (3) vendors if, in the opinion of the director, fewer than three (3) vendors are qualified.
9. (9) A general or standing request for notice of all solicitations of a given type shall not suffice as a request for a specific solicitation and shall create no obligation on the Office of the Arkansas Lottery.

(f)

1. (1)

   1. (A) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall require each proposer to submit the cost proposal component of the proposal in a sealed and labeled envelope separate from the technical proposal component.
   2. (B) The purpose is to allow the cost component to be evaluated separately from the technical component.

2. (2)

   1. (A) The cost proposals shall not be opened until after the evaluation of the technical component is completed.
   2. (B) After the technical proposal evaluation is completed, the cost proposals shall be opened and evaluated, and the total evaluation of the proposals will then be based on the criteria established in the applicable RFP.
3. (3) Any proposal which fails to adequately separate the cost proposal components from the technical proposal may be considered nonresponsive and rejected by the Office of the Arkansas Lottery.

(g)

1. (1) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall communicate, clarify, and negotiate in the best interests of the Office of the Arkansas Lottery, provided that all communication is conducted in a manner so as not to disclose any information that would give one (1) or more vendors unfair advantage or unfairly enable one (1) or more vendors to improve their proposal.

2. (2) Specifically, negotiations will only be permitted with the vendor whose bid, offer, quote, or proposal is the highest-rated:

   1. (A) Bid;
   2. (B) Offer;
   3. (C) Quote; or
   4. (D) Proposal.
3. (3) In the event that negotiations with the highest-rated vendor fail to result in a contract, or if for any other reason a contract with such vendor is not executed, the Office of the Arkansas Lottery may conduct negotiations with the second highest vendor and so forth until a contract is successfully executed.

(i)

1. (1) The Office of the Arkansas Lottery shall have the right, at its sole discretion, to reject any and all proposals.
2. (2) Any proposal that does not meet the requirements of an RFP may be considered to be nonresponsive and the proposal may be rejected.
3. (3) Any proposal that restricts the rights of the Office of the Arkansas Lottery or otherwise qualifies the proposal may be considered to be nonresponsive and the proposal may be rejected.

(k) Evaluation and award.

1. (1) Proposals shall be evaluated in accordance with the solicitation and in such a manner as to reasonably ensure that all proposals are impartially considered and Office of the Arkansas Lottery requirements are adequately met.
2. (2) Proposals shall be evaluated by a committee established by the director.

3. (3)

   1. (A) Prior to reviewing proposals, each proposal evaluation committee member shall review a list of vendors making proposals, determine if a conflict of interest exists with a potential vendor, and sign a statement of whether or not the member has a potential conflict of interest.
   2. (B) The statement shall be retained as procurement file documentation.
4. (4) Proposals shall be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the solicitation.

5. (5)

   1. (A) Neither the technical proposal nor the cost or any other single criterion shall be the only criterion for a major procurement contract award recommendation.
   2. (B) Rather, evaluations shall be conducted and criteria shall be established to select proposals that provide the:

(i) Greatest overall value;

1. (ii) Greatest long-term benefit to the State of Arkansas;

   1. (iii) Greatest integrity for the Office of the Arkansas Lottery; and

      1. (iv) Best services and products for the public.
   2. (C) However, specific factors may be set forth in the applicable solicitation as criteria for determining whether a vendor who submits a bid, offer, quote, or proposal in response to that solicitation is a responsible bidder/proposer and which proposals shall be considered responsive to the RFP.
2. (6) Pricing discounts for payment within certain time periods or in cash shall not be considered in evaluating bids.
3. (7) Only signed, sealed bids delivered prior to the date and time of bid opening shall be accepted.

4. (8)

   1. (A) The past performance of a bidder/proposer/offeror on a state contract may be used by the Office of the Arkansas Lottery to determine whether the bidder/proposer/offeror is responsible.
   2. (B) Past performance must be supported by written documentation not greater than three (3) years old.
   3. (C) Reports, memos, and files may be in electronic form.
   4. (D) Past performance may be positive or negative.
   5. (E) Past performance on contracts from other Arkansas state agencies may also be used for evaluation.
   6. (F) Supporting documentation should be provided.
   7. (G) Past performance evaluation should not take the place of suspension or debarment procedures.

5. (9)

   1. (A) In the event of a tie bid, the person responsible for awarding a major procurement contract must ensure that all offers meet specifications.
   2. (B) An award will be made by flip of a coin.
   3. (C) The coin flip will be done in the presence of a witness by the person responsible for awarding the contract.
   4. (D) The witness must be an employee of the State of Arkansas.
   5. (E) A documentation of the coin flip must be included on the tabulation or bid history sheet and be signed by both parties and the witness.