Bill > S1715

This bill amends Chapter 7 of the General Laws to require state agencies and authorities to prioritize products manufactured in the United States when procuring goods and services, provided these domestic products do not cost more than ten percent higher than comparable foreign products. This preference is established after any existing preference for businesses with their principal place of business in the Commonwealth, as defined by Chapter 23A, Section 3A. The bill defines "manufactured" for iron or steel products as requiring all manufacturing processes to occur in the United States, with an exception for steel additive refinement, and for other manufactured goods, it means all manufacturing processes and all components must be of U.S. origin, where a component is considered U.S. origin if all its manufacturing processes occur in the United States, regardless of subcomponent origin. Importantly, these provisions do not apply to "Emergency and Life and Property Safety Goods," which are defined as items used in systems designed to prevent, respond to, alert about, suppress, control, or extinguish emergencies that threaten life or property, including examples like fire alarms, security systems, and emergency lighting.