Government Contract Bid Protest - Connecticut

PROTEST OF SOLICITATION / AWARD

State of Connecticut

Before the State Contracting Standards Board

CASE CAPTION

BEFORE THE STATE CONTRACTING STANDARDS BOARD
STATE OF CONNECTICUT

In the Matter of the Protest of:

Protester: [________________________________]

Concerning:

Solicitation/Contract No.: [________________________________]

Issuing Agency: [________________________________]

Protest No. (if assigned): [________________________________]

Date Filed: [__/__/____]

WRITTEN CONTEST OF SOLICITATION OR AWARD

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction and Jurisdictional Statement
2. Parties
3. Timeliness of Protest
4. Statement of Relevant Facts
5. Grounds of Protest
6. Legal Argument
7. Request for Stay of Award/Performance
8. Requested Remedies
9. Representations and Certifications
10. Exhibits
11. Certificate of Service
12. Signature Block

I. INTRODUCTION AND JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT

1. This Protest is filed pursuant to the Connecticut General Statutes governing state procurement, including C.G.S. § 4a-50 et seq. and C.G.S. § 4e-1 et seq.

2. The Connecticut Department of Administrative Services ("DAS") serves as the central purchasing authority for state agencies under C.G.S. § 4a-51. This written contest is submitted to the State Contracting Standards Board for assignment to a subcommittee under C.G.S. § 4e-36.

3. Under C.G.S. § 4e-36, a bidder or proposer on a state contract may submit a written contest of the solicitation or award to a three-member subcommittee of the State Contracting Standards Board, limited to procedural elements or an unauthorized or unwarranted noncompetitive selection process.

4. This Protest concerns Solicitation/Contract No. [________________________________] (the "Solicitation"), issued by [________________________________] (the "Agency") for [________________________________] (brief description of procurement).

5. Under C.G.S. § 4a-57, all purchases by or for any state agency shall be based on competitive bidding or competitive negotiation, except as otherwise provided by statute. The Protester contends that the Agency's conduct violated these mandatory competitive procurement requirements.

II. PARTIES

A. Protester

Legal Name: [________________________________]

Entity Type: ☐ Corporation ☐ LLC ☐ Partnership ☐ Sole Proprietorship ☐ Other: [____]

State of Organization: [________________________________]

Principal Business Address: [________________________________]

City, State, ZIP: [________________________________]

CT Department of Revenue Services Registration No.: [________________________________]

Authorized Representative: [________________________________]

Title: [________________________________]

Telephone: [________________________________]

Email: [________________________________]

B. Contracting Agency

Agency Name: [________________________________]

Procurement Contact: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

City, State, ZIP: [________________________________]

C. Awardee (if known)

Name: [________________________________]

Address: [________________________________]

III. TIMELINESS OF PROTEST

A. Applicable Deadline

This Contest is submitted in writing within 14 days after the Protester knew or should have known of the facts giving rise to it, as required by C.G.S. § 4e-36(a). The Protester first knew or should have known of those facts on [__/__/____]; the fourteenth day is [__/__/____].

☐ This is a solicitation contest by a bidder or proposer, filed within 14 days after the facts giving rise to it became known or should have become known.

☐ This is an award contest by a bidder or proposer, filed within the same 14-day period.

B. Triggering Event

The Protester first knew or should have known of the facts giving rise to this Protest on [__/__/____], when: [________________________________]

C. Type of Protest

☐ Pre-award protest (challenging solicitation terms, specifications, or evaluation criteria)
☐ Post-award protest (challenging the award decision)
☐ Other: [________________________________]

IV. STATEMENT OF RELEVANT FACTS

1. On [__/__/____], the Agency issued the Solicitation for [________________________________].

2. The Solicitation was published on the State Contracting Portal as required by C.G.S. § 4e-15 and notice was provided at least [____] calendar days before the submission deadline, as required by C.G.S. § 4a-57.

3. The Solicitation established the following evaluation criteria:

   • [________________________________] - [____]%
   • [________________________________] - [____]%
   • [________________________________] - [____]%
   • Price/Cost - [____]%

4. On [__/__/____], the Protester timely submitted its proposal/bid.

5. [________________________________] (additional facts regarding the procurement process)

6. On [__/__/____], the Agency [announced its intent to award / awarded] the contract to [________________________________] (the "Awardee").

7. On [__/__/____], the Protester [received notice of the award / requested a debriefing / learned of the facts giving rise to this Protest].

8. [________________________________] (additional relevant facts)

V. GROUNDS OF PROTEST

The Protester asserts the following grounds:

Ground 1: [Title]

☐ Evaluation Errors: The Agency deviated from the stated evaluation criteria and/or applicable procurement law in evaluating proposals.

Factual Basis: [________________________________]

Applicable Authority: C.G.S. § 4a-57; C.G.S. § 4a-59.

Ground 2: [Title]

☐ Failure to Award to Lowest Responsible Qualified Bidder: Under C.G.S. § 4a-59, the award shall be made to the lowest responsible qualified bidder. The Agency failed to comply with this requirement.

Factual Basis: [________________________________]

Ground 3: [Title]

☐ Unequal Treatment of Offerors: The Agency afforded disparate treatment to bidders during the evaluation or procurement process.

Factual Basis: [________________________________]

Ground 4: [Title]

☐ Specification Deficiency: The Solicitation contained unduly restrictive, ambiguous, or biased specifications that unfairly favored a particular bidder.

Factual Basis: [________________________________]

Applicable Authority: C.G.S. § 4a-57(a) (specifications shall be sufficiently broad to encourage competitive bidding).

Ground 5: [Title]

☐ Conflict of Interest: The procurement process was tainted by a conflict of interest in violation of C.G.S. § 4e-16 (ethics standards) or C.G.S. § 1-101qq (gift provisions).

Factual Basis: [________________________________]

Additional Grounds:

☐ Violation of mandatory procurement procedures
☐ Improper waiver of competitive bidding under C.G.S. § 4a-57
☐ Failure to post on State Contracting Portal per C.G.S. § 4e-15
☐ Failure to comply with small business or minority business enterprise requirements
☐ Other: [________________________________]

VI. LEGAL ARGUMENT

A. Connecticut Procurement Framework

Connecticut procurement is governed by C.G.S. § 4a-50 et seq. (DAS purchasing authority), C.G.S. § 4a-57 (competitive bidding requirements), and C.G.S. § 4e-1 et seq. (State Contracting Standards Board oversight).

Under C.G.S. § 4a-57(a), whenever possible there shall be at least three competitive bids for all purchases. The Commissioner shall award the contract to the lowest responsible qualified bidder, taking into consideration the quality of the supplies, materials, equipment or contractual services. C.G.S. § 4a-59.

B. Competitive Prejudice

The Protester was competitively prejudiced because: [________________________________]

C. Detailed Legal Analysis

[________________________________]

VII. REQUEST FOR STAY OF AWARD/PERFORMANCE

The Protester requests that the Agency voluntarily pause award or performance pending resolution of this Contest because:

☐ There is a reasonable likelihood that the Protest will be sustained
☐ The stay will not substantially harm the public interest
☐ Immediate performance is not critical
☐ The balance of equities favors a stay

Supporting Facts: [________________________________]

Filing this Contest alone does not prohibit award or execution of the contract. C.G.S. § 4e-36(b).

VIII. REQUESTED REMEDIES

The Protester respectfully requests:

1. ☐ Sustain the Protest;

2. ☐ Stay the award or performance pending resolution;

3. ☐ Direct corrective action, including:

   • ☐ Re-evaluation of proposals/bids
   • ☐ Re-solicitation
   • ☐ Cancellation of the improper award
   • ☐ Award to the Protester as the lowest responsible qualified bidder
   • ☐ Other: [________________________________]

4. ☐ Consider any costs or other relief only if a separate applicable authority permits them;

5. ☐ Issue a written decision under C.G.S. § 4e-36(d) if the Contest is not resolved by mutual agreement;

6. ☐ Other relief as the procurement official deems appropriate.

IX. REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS

9.1 Accuracy. The Protester certifies that the statements herein are true and correct.

9.2 No Pending Actions. No other action concerning this matter is pending before any court or administrative body.

9.3 Standing. The Protester is a bidder or proposer on the state contract identified above.

9.4 Ethics Compliance. The Protester certifies compliance with C.G.S. § 4e-16 and C.G.S. § 1-101qq regarding ethics and gift provisions.

9.5 Good Faith. This Protest is filed in good faith.

X. EXHIBITS

☐ Exhibit A - Solicitation and Amendments
☐ Exhibit B - Protester's Proposal/Bid (Redacted)
☐ Exhibit C - Award Notification
☐ Exhibit D - Debriefing Materials
☐ Exhibit E - Correspondence with Agency
☐ Exhibit F - Declaration of [________________________________]
☐ Exhibit G - [________________________________]

XI. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on [__/__/____], a true and correct copy of this Protest was served on:

State Contracting Standards Board (filing recipient):
Name: [________________________________]
Method: ☐ Email ☐ Hand Delivery ☐ Certified Mail

Contracting Agency (copy):
Name: [________________________________]
Method: ☐ Email ☐ Hand Delivery ☐ Certified Mail

Awardee (if known):
Name: [________________________________]
Method: ☐ Email ☐ Hand Delivery ☐ Certified Mail

___________________________________
[Name]

XII. SIGNATURE BLOCK

PROTESTER:

[________________________________]

By: ___________________________________

Name: [________________________________]

Title: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

COUNSEL FOR PROTESTER (if represented):

[________________________________]

By: ___________________________________

[________________________________], Esq.
Connecticut Bar No. [________________________________]
Address: [________________________________]
Telephone: [________________________________]
Email: [________________________________]

CONNECTICUT-SPECIFIC PROCEDURAL NOTES

• C.G.S. § 4e-36 sends a written contest by a bidder or proposer to a State Contracting Standards Board subcommittee within 14 days after the bidder or proposer knew or should have known of the facts giving rise to it. Confirm the Board's current submission instructions before filing.
• The contest is limited to procedural elements of the solicitation or award, or claims of an unauthorized or unwarranted noncompetitive selection process. Filing alone does not bar award or execution.
• Determine any review route for the specific decision under current law before stating an appeal deadline or filing a court action.
• Check any separate procurement or agency procedure that applies to the specific solicitation.

SOURCES AND REFERENCES

1. C.G.S. § 4a-50 et seq. - DAS purchasing authority
2. C.G.S. § 4a-51 - Commissioner of Administrative Services procurement responsibilities
3. C.G.S. § 4a-57 - Competitive bidding requirements (at least 3 bids; notice requirements)
4. C.G.S. § 4a-59 - Award to lowest responsible qualified bidder
5. C.G.S. § 4e-1 et seq. - State Contracting Standards Board
6. C.G.S. § 4e-15 - State Contracting Portal posting requirements
7. C.G.S. § 4e-16 - Ethics standards for procurement
8. C.G.S. § 4e-36 - Contested solicitations and awards
9. C.G.S. § 1-101qq - Gift and ethics provisions
10. C.G.S. § 4-183 - UAPA administrative appeals to Superior Court
11. DAS Procurement Division Regulations and Procedures

This template is designed for use in the State of Connecticut. Protest procedures vary by agency. This template should be customized and reviewed by a qualified Connecticut attorney before filing. Laws and regulations may change; verify all citations before use.