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4/9/2025
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Serpa, DiPalma legislation would end practice of predetermining winning contract bidders
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STATE HOUSE — Rep. Patricia A. Serpa and Sen. Louis P. DiPalma have introduced legislation to bring fairness to Rhode Island’s bidding process for entities who contract with the state.
The Rhode Island Bid Rigging Act (2025-H 6173, 2025-S 0945) would make it unlawful for any person to knowingly conspire, collude, combine, or agree with another to commit or attempt to commit bid rigging.
“Bid rigging” is defined as a concerted activity of two or more persons to predetermine the winning bidder of a contract submitted for competitive bidding by a government entity.
“For many, it was a shock to learn that Rhode Island has no law against bid rigging,” said Representative Serpa (D-Dist. 27, West Warwick, Coventry), who chairs the House Oversight Committee. “It’s clear that we need to rein in this practice. We need the bidding process to be as aboveboard and transparent as possible. Rigging the system to guarantee that certain companies or individuals win contracts is unconscionable and diametrically opposed to what we’re trying to accomplish in this state.”
The legislation comes as a response to an investigation by Attorney General Peter Neronha of a contract that was awarded by Gov. Dan McKee shortly after he first took office in 2021. The bill, submitted at the request of Neronha, would ban various forms of bid rigging, including price fixing, submitting identical bids, rotating bids, sharing profits with a contractor who does not submit the low bid, submitting prearranged bids, or dividing up territories to restrict competition, in addition to others.
“It is imperative that the public has trust in the state’s bidding process and this legislation will ensure that fairness and integrity are central to securing state contracts,” said Senator DiPalma (D-Dist. 12, Middletown, Newport, Tiverton, Little Compton), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. “The people of Rhode Island deserve a fair, open and transparent process without worrying that contracts are a done deal before the request for proposals is even sent out.”
This legislation is the latest proposal by Senator DiPalma and Representative Serpa to reform the bidding process. Last year the two sponsored a new law (2024-S 3139, 2024-H 8348) that prohibits vendors from bidding on contracts if they have a conflict of interest as defined by the Code of Ethics.
For more information, contact:
Daniel Trafford, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-1922
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