State re-issues RFP for blind application scorers

State re-issues RFP for blind application scorers

The Request for Proposal for the blind scorers of medical marijuana facilities has been re-issued after the State of Missouri received no bids for the contract.

The RFP “is to obtain the services of an independent contracting firm to blindly review and score Medical Marijuana Facility Applications for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ Medical Marijuana Regulatory Program.”

The re-issued RFP is mostly identical to the original one.

“The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services will provide licenses or certifications for up to ten (10) lab testing facilities, sixty (60) cultivation facilities, eighty-six (86) manufacturing facilities, and one hundred ninety-two (192) dispensaries. The number of facility applications received for each license type is unknown. However, to date, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has received a total of approximately five hundred forty-three (543) pre-filed facility applications (i.e. intent to file a full facility application on August 3, 2019), broken down by facility type as follows:

Cultivation facilities: 157
Dispensary facilities: 301
Manufacturing facilities: 85
Lab testing facilities: 0 (not eligible for pre-application)

   

The new RFP deadline for proposals is July 19 at 2:00 p.m. The RFP went live on Friday, June 28 at 5:30 p.m.

During the June 13 telephone conference about the original RFP, four companies were in attendance: Information Resource Group, Inc. from Jefferson City; United Region Transit Services of St. Louis; Public Consulting Group of Jefferson City, and Steelo Cleaning LLC of Bridgeton. The call was joined by six representatives from the Department of Health and Senior Services: Andrea Balkenbush, Sharlet Kroll, Patti Hageman, Stephen Doerhoff, Amy Moore, and April Howser.

The RFP itself gives a good window into the scoring process procedure.

DHSS has 150 days to turn around applications to applicants with approval or denial of a facility license. Notable parts of the RFP are below.

  • The contractor should complete the evaluation and provide scoring results for the facility applications in the following order and by the dates shown but must complete such by no later than November 30, 2019 for the first round of Medical Marijuana facility applications.
    • Lab Testing Facilities – September 15, 2019
    • Cultivation Facilities – October 30, 2019
    • Manufacturing Facilities – November 30, 2019
    • Dispensaries – November 30, 2019
  • The contractor shall pull the individual question and response with the appropriate facility application number and assign such to a scoring team member that has the appropriate background and expertise to evaluate that question and response. The state agency will provide facility applications to the contractor by facility application number, not by question.
  • The contractor’s scoring team member shall score each question in an objective way using the predetermined point range and instructions outlined in the Facility Scoring Guide provided by the state agency.
  • Testimony Services – If required by the state agency, the contractor shall provide testimony by deposition or appearance before an Administrative Law Judge, court of law, or Missouri Legislature/Missouri General Assembly. The state agency will provide as much notice of such need as possible.
  • The contractor shall understand and agree that the state agency may request, depending on the circumstances of the testimony needed, that the contractor’s personnel providing testimony be the same personnel that performed the specific Medical Marijuana Facility Application Scoring services in question or the state agency may request otherwise suitable personnel of expert testimony. The contractor shall work with the state agency to provide the personnel most suitable to fulfill the state agency’s request.
  • Conflict of Interest: During the term of the contract, the contractor shall not have a conflict of interest or apparent conflict of interest in relation to the services required herein. Such conflicts may include, but are not limited to, any of the following actions by the contractor or its officers, contractor’s personnel, consultants, subcontractors, suppliers, or agents:
  • The contractor shall not provide consulting services regarding any aspect of the Missouri medical marijuana industry to medical marijuana license or certification applicants or potential medical marijuana license or certification applicants for a period of five (5) years after the term of the contract.
  • During the term of the contract for the services outlined in this RFP, the contractor shall not apply for any type of medical marijuana license or certification.
  • Except for payment as set out herein, the contractor and its personnel shall not accept any collateral gift, payment, commission, or other direct benefit arising from or connected to performance under the contract; and
  • The contractor, its personnel or any person within two degrees of contractor kinship or consanguinity shall not have any financial interest in the business of a third party that causes, or would appear to cause, a conflict of interest in connection with the contractor’s performance under the contract.