1 WSEA RFP Written Inquiry Responses.docx
DOCX document 33 KB Posted
- Attached to
- Master Agreement AZ|CTR060124
- Contract number
- CTR060124
- Issued by
- Arizona
About this file
This document is a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Services for the Western States Electronic Alliance (WSEA), involving multiple states including Colorado, Idaho, and others. The document contains a comprehensive set of written inquiry responses related to the RFP, addressing various procedural, technical, and administrative questions from potential bidders. The procurement is being managed through the Colorado Division of Procurement, with the RFP version 8 serving as the primary solicitation document.
The contract seeks to establish an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) services provider for a base contract term with potential one-year renewal options. The scope includes providing comprehensive EBT services across multiple states, with specific requirements for Card Production and Card Management (CPCM) systems. Pricing will be evaluated based on the total proposed solution cost over the base contract period, with the assumption that all optional services across states will be utilized. The contract includes membership in the eGovernment Payment Council (eGPC) at an annual cost of $7,000 for the consortium. Bidders are required to provide detailed technical responses, company capabilities, and compliance with specific functional requirements, with evaluation criteria that will assess both technical and cost components of the proposals.
View the file
Other files
Show all 35
On GovTribe
Work with this file
- Download the original file
- Contacts named in this file
- Similar government files
- Ask GovTribe AI about this file
Text version
RFP Section
| Comment/Clarification/Question |
| Discussion / Response |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
1.6 Schedule of Activities
| Will the Alliance allow a 2nd round of questions in order to receive the highest quality responses from bidders? |
| No. There will be one round of Written Inquiries as stated in the RFP. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
2.9 Confidential/ Proprietary Information
Can WSEA please clarify where and how written requests for confidentiality should be submitted?
Is there a submission deadline to ensure a decision prior to the proposal submission date?
Vendors must submit a written request for confidentiality with their bids by outlining each piece of information that is requested to be confidential and why the vendor believes this information is confidential under the Colorado Open Records Act. Vendors may send requests for confidentiality prior to bid submission, but CDHS may withhold the decision regarding confidentiality until the CDHS can see the entirety of the information requested to be confidential.
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8 7 Response Format
| Please clarify how WSEA wants bidders to define all acronyms in the proposal…with an acronym list after the table of contents or in the first usage of the acronym in the written text? |
| Define acronyms as follows: First usage of the acronym in the written text. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
| To better follow the page limitations by section, can bidders provide the requested page numbering format by sections (i.e., page 5-1 of 5-25)? |
| No. All pages should be numbered in the following manner: page____ of ____ pages. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
| Can pre-existing documents, signed forms, and attachments be excluded from the page numbering requirement? |
| No. All pages should be numbered in the following manner: page____ of ____ pages. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
7.3 Proposal Organization and 4.2.4 Qualifications of Subcontractor(s)
| Can subcontractor letters of commitment be excluded from the 25-page limit for Section 5 and be attached as an appendix to proposal? |
| Yes. Letters of commitment can be excluded from the 25-page limit and attached as an appendix. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
8.3 Evaluation Process
| Can the details of the scoring system be provided? The section also states “relative weights are disclosed in the RFP”. Can the Alliance please provide the RFP section the weights are provided or provide the weights? |
| No further details of the scoring process will be provided. The sentence segment, disclosed in the RFP, has been stricken from the RFP. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
| Please provide a breakout of how many of the evaluation points will be allocated to the cost schedules |
| No further details of the scoring process will be provided. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
| How many of the evaluation points will be based on the WIC CPCM in Schedule 2? |
| No further details of the scoring process will be provided. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
| Please provide a break out of the evaluation points and weights allocated to the technical response |
| No further details of the scoring process will be provided. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
7.3 Proposal Organization and 4.1.1 Offeror’s Capabilities
| Given the size of our company and its operations and the scope of this question, would WSEA consider a limitation of this question to current and prior litigation related to the quality or performance of EBT, EFT, or related services for the past 3 years? |
| WSEA will accept the most recent 5 years of documentation. |
WSEA EBT Services RFP v.8
7.3 Proposal Organization and 4.1.1 Offeror’s Capabilities
| Would WSEA consider a detailed statement summarizing each protest and action, in lieu of requiring a copy of all letters, protests, and actions? |
| WSEA will accept the most recent 5 years of documentation. |
1.6 Schedule of Activities
| This section indicates the Proposal Submission Deadline is October 6, 2022. However, Attachment 1 indicates the due date is October 10, 2021. Please confirm the correct Proposal Submission Deadline. |
| Attachment 1 has been updated to reference the correct date of 10/6/21 at 17:00 Mountain. |
1.7 WSEA State Standard Terms and Conditions
| This section indicates that the States will not make any modifications to their respective terms and conditions not addressed and agreed to during the questions and answers period. However, Section 3.2 on pages 19 – 20 references individual State contract negotiations. Please specify the extent to which negotiations will be held with the potential awardee. |
| Idaho is the only WSEA state that does not negotiate Contract Terms and Conditions after the award. The EBT Contractor will have an opportunity to negotiate with all other states. |
2.6 Acceptance of RFP Terms
| This section states that an Offeror shall identify clearly and thoroughly any variations between its proposal and the State’s RFP. However, Section 8.7 on page 53 states that proposed changes or exceptions to any requirement may disqualify an Offeror’s proposal. Please confirm if requested modifications or variations from requirements are acceptable to include in an Offeror’s response. |
| Vendors may request changes to the State’s RFP terms and conditions; however, there are terms and conditions that cannot, by law, be modified. If the vendor submits terms and conditions that conflict with the law they may receive an award but may later be disqualified if the State and the awardee cannot come to an agreement about terms and conditions. |
2.9 Confidential / Proprietary Information
| What is the timeframe for the Division of Procurement to provide a determination on an Offeror’s request for confidential treatment once the request is submitted? |
| Following the submission deadline, the State will review each request and determine whether changes need to be made in the request by 10/21. |
2.22 Contract Performance For Services Outside of US or CO
| Is the written notice to include any work being done outside the State of Colorado, or only work being done outside of the United States? |
| Both. |
2.23 Subcontracts
| Each of our executed subcontractor are existing agreements have their own governing laws and they encompass projects in addition to the WSEA States. Will the States please remove the following language from the last sentence of this section, “and shall provide that such subcontracts be governed by the laws of the State of Colorado”? |
| Colorado requests that the awardee create new contracts with its subcontractors, with Colorado law governing. |
4.1.1 Offeror’s Capabilities
| Copies of all letters and actions of our nearly 30 years of providing EBT services may no longer be available. Will the States limit the response to this section to the previous 2 or 3 years? |
| WSEA will accept the most recent 5 years of documentation. |
6.1 Detailed Definition of Work
| Preferred functions/services are to be included in CPCM, even though they are “nice to haves”. It may add considerable expense to the States’ programs to incur CPCM expenses that include several features they may never use. Would the States consider having Offerors provide separate pricing for Preferred functions/services? |
| No separate pricing will be evaluated for items marked as Preferred. Function/Service/Requirement Descriptions marked as Preferred are not required to be provided by the Offeror. If the Offeror does not provide this functionality, the Offeror can mark the line as “No” and not include the functionality in the proposed CPCM. |
6.1 Detailed Definition of Work
| Please clarify if Offerors are to include in their CPCM requirements that are designated as Required in the “Req’d (R) Pref’d (P) Opt’l (O)” column but described as “optional” or “at the State’s option” in the “Function / Service / Requirement Description” column. |
| Offerors should include all items marked as R (required) and functions/services marked as P (preferred) that the Offeror indicates as “Yes” in the CPCM. |
Items marked as O (Optional) in the should not be included in the CPCM.
6.1 Detailed Definition of Work
| If the States will allow Preferred items to be priced separately from CPCM, will WSEA provide a pricing table for Preferred items or should Offerors add Preferred items to the appropriate Optional Services table (Schedule 7 or Schedule 8)? |
| No separate pricing will be evaluated for items marked as Preferred. |
6.1 Detailed Definition of Work
| How will items Attachment 2 and Attachment 4 marked as “No” be evaluated? |
| Items marked as Preferred or Optional in the Function/Service/Requirement Descriptions are not required to be provided by the Offeror. If the Offeror does not provide this functionality, the Offeror can mark the line as “No”. If an item is Required, and the Offeror answers no, the proposal may be marked nonresponsive. |
7 Response Format
| Will it be acceptable for Offerors to number pages by section number as outlined in Section 7.3? For example, Section 3 would be beginning with Page 3.1 of x (total pages in section3), and Section 4 would begin with Page 4-1 of x (total pages in section 4)? |
| No. All pages should be numbered in the following manner: page____ of ____ pages. |
| 6.2.1 Pricing Approach, Page 42 |
| This section states that the CPCM pricing shall also include the cost for WSEA membership in the eGovernment Payment Council (eGPC). |
What is the cost for WSEA membership? Please provide the annual cost by State or annual cost for the Consortium as a whole.
From the eGPC Website: Membership costs for State Coalitions – includes any combination of state programs – Includes Quest Rules Forum (4 states or more) is $7,000.00 annually. This is an annual cost for the consortium as a whole, not for each individual state or agency.
7.4.1 Public Opening
| Due to COVID travel restrictions at some companies, will the Division consider conducting the Public Opening via an online meeting (Teams or Zoom)? |
| CO Procurement uses Google Meet: |
The Public Opening will be held on 10/7/2021 at 10:00AM (MT) at the following address: meet.google.com/jyo-bquc-uor
8.5.5 Category 5 – Cost Proposal
| This section states cost proposal will be evaluated based on the total cost of the proposed solution over the base contract period. Section 1.6 says the initial contract term is 1 year followed by 4 one-year options, Section 3.2 on page 19 says the base term will be negotiated with each State, and on page 20 the RFP says the minimum base contract term is estimated to be 5 years. What initial base term will be utilized as the basis for the cost proposal evaluation? |
| No further details of the scoring process will be provided. |
8.5.5 Category 5 – Cost Proposal
| This section states that total cost will be evaluated including any optional services. Will the evaluation committee assume all States will use all options to determine a total cost? |
| Yes. |
8.5.5 Category 5 – Cost Proposal
| If the total cost won’t be calculated based on all States utilizing all optional services, please clarify how the total cost will be determine if States select different optional services. |
| WSEA will evaluate costs as one entity. |
| 2.9 |
| Question 1: How long will the Division of Procurement require to review and provide written determination in response to written requests for confidentiality to allow the Offeror time to make any necessary adjustments and separate confidential/proprietary content? |
Question 2: The RFP states that the confidential/proprietary information must be readily identified marked and separated/packaged from the rest of the proposal. In addition to marking the confidential/proprietary information, will the WSEA States allow redactions of the information?
A1: Please see answer to Question 16.
A2: If the State agrees that the information is confidential, the State will allow redactions. If the State does not agree with the confidentiality request, the vendors will be given an opportunity to adjust their redactions or to withdraw from the solicitation. The State is subject to the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), so no information that is not confidential, proprietary, trade secret, or meets some exception under CORA can be redacted.
3.4.2.1
| Please provide the number of PINs issued by mail for 2020. As this is a requirement for other states as well, please provide this breakdown at a state level. |
| WSEA will not provide any additional information or statistics other than what is provided in the RFP and Addendum 1. |
| 3.4.4.2 |
| Please provide the number of issued debit cards and total card value for 2020. |
| WSEA will not provide any additional information or statistics other than what is provided in the RFP and Addendum 1. |
| 6.2.1 |
| Please provide the total cost of membership per year. |
| From the eGPC Website: Membership costs for State Coalitions – includes any combination of state programs – Includes Quest Rules Forum (4 states or more) is $7,000.00 annually. |
| 8.3 |
| Please provide the numerically based evaluation methodology that this section references. |
If the State will not provide the numerically evaluation methodology, please provide the evaluation criteria in the order of importance.
No further details of the scoring process will be provided. The sentence segment, disclosed in the RFP, has been stricken from the RFP.
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .