Public contracts: contracts for services

The law exempts certain tribal contracts from normal state advertising and competitive-bid rules. It also permits tribes providing cultural-resources consulting to compete for resulting work.

What the law does ​

• Exempts consulting contracts that only a federally recognized California Native American tribe can perform from advertising and bidding requirements.
• Exempts state contracts with federally recognized California Native American tribes from the requirement to obtain at least three competitive bids or proposals.
• Allows a contracting tribe to use a wholly owned tribal subdivision, subsidiary, or business as a subcontractor under an interagency agreement if the tribe gives a limited sovereign-immunity waiver and shows its service cost is comparable to similar services.
• Allows tribes that provide consulting on tribal cultural resources to bid for or receive contracts connected to the consulting work.

Who it affects ​

• Federally recognized California Native American tribes and their wholly owned entities.
• State agencies seeking consulting services, interagency agreements, or tribal cultural-resources services.
• Other prospective contractors competing for affected state service contracts.