Institutional purchasers: sale of California produce.

Under existing law, price, fitness, and quality being equal, any body, officer, or other person charged with the purchase, or permitted or authorized to purchase supplies for the use of the state, or of any of its institutions or offices, or for the use of any county or city, is required to always prefer supplies that are manufactured or produced in the state, and is required to next prefer supplies partially manufactured or produced in the state. Existing law requires all California state-owned or state-run institutions, except public universities and colleges and school districts, to purchase agricultural products grown in California when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the products are comparable. Existing law also requires the institutions, when they solicit or intend to accept a bid or price for agricultural products grown outside the state, to accept the bid or price from a vendor that packs or processes these agricultural products in the state before accepting a bid or price from a vendor that packs or processes these agricultural products outside of the state when specified conditions are met, including that the bid or price of the agricultural product grown outside the state and packed or processed in the state does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for the agricultural product packed or processed outside the state. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2021, increase the maximum percentage a bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product can exceed the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside of the state, and increase the maximum percentage a bid or price of the agricultural product grown outside the state and packed or processed in state can exceed the lowest bid or price for the agricultural product packed and processed outside the state, from 5% to 10%.