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5/29/08: Oklahoma House Bill 1804

UPDATE: A temporary injunction has been granted to delay the effective date of the portion of HB1804 pertaining to services provided in the State of Oklahoma. The HB1804 guidelines communicated on 5/29/08 are on hold until further notice.

As you may know, Oklahoma House Bill 1804 became law effective November 1, 2007. There are numerous questions with regard to contracting with suppliers for services and the required statement of compliance on all invoices. Purchasing e-mailed guidelines and details on May 29, 2008. Questions regarding the policy should be directed via email to Jan Duke at OU Purchasing. Questions regarding the statement of compliance on invoices should be directed to Financial Support Services.

Links for the certification forms:

HB1804 INDIVIDUAL IC Certification

HB1804 IC NonIndividual Entities Certification

HB1804 Flowchart

Item 4 under the "Purchased Services within the Small Dollar Policy" states the following:

For all payments made through Accounts Payable (services and non-services), the department must certify to Accounts Payable that it has complied with HB1804. Payments will not be rendered without a statement indicating the department has complied with the procedures for HB 1804. This statement may be on the face of the invoice or on an attached piece of paper. The statement can be in the form of a stamp. The statement must be signed by the department sponsor or co-sponsor.

 

For purposes of compliance with this section of the policy, the following language must be used:

"By approving this invoice for payment, I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to comply with any applicable legal requirements of HB1804, Oklahoma Taxpayer & Citizen Protection Act, in obtaining any services that might be included on this invoice. If no services are included, I understand that I do not need to take any additional steps."

 

Departments are encouraged to begin using this certification for payments submitted to FSS immediately. The deadline for invoices to be submitted to FSS for payment prior to July 1 is June 17. Therefore, this certification will become mandatory for all payment requests submitted after June 17, 2008. Any payment requests submitted after June 17 will be returned to the department if the certification is not present.

 

HB 1804 Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does the sponsor have to sign the statement and sign as the account sponsor to pay the invoice?
   
   
2. Will FSS be able to mail this certificate to all the people that are set up as vendors to request this?
   
   
3. The information that was sent last week regarding HB 1804 seemed to apply only to contractors or providers of service. Today's email applies the regulations to all invoices being processed through FSS, although the forms it directs us to use only indicates services only and not goods. Am I reading this correctly? Does this also apply to vendors we purchase from on the internet? Does it apply to vendors outside of Oklahoma?
   
   
4. When we have something framed by a store in Norman, that’s a service.  However, if that store is not an independent contractor, do we still have to have the certification filled out by them as of July 1st?
   
   
5. Regarding the "verification" on each invoice - we have been instructed in more than one meeting that stamps will be provided to each department.  Do you know anything about this, and if so, is that still the case?
   
   
6. While I am aware of HB 1804 generally, I don't know the specifics.  Is this stating that any faculty member who approves a payment on a research grant is certifying that he/she knows that no illegal immigrants were involved in the providing the services or manufacturing the item?
   
   
7. If a business renders a service to The University and that company is located with a permanent address outside of Oklahoma, they do not have anyone that lives in Oklahoma, nor a person physically located in Oklahoma, do we need to get the HB 1804 Certification from them?
   
   

1. Does the sponsor have to sign the statement and sign as the account sponsor to pay the invoice?

   One signature will suffice since the suggested language includes the phrase "By approving this invoice for payment...".
   
   

2. Will FSS be able to mail this certificate to all the people that are set up as vendors to request this?

   FSS has too many vendors in the vendor file to mail the certificate to each and every one of them.  We are working with Purchasing to identify a subset of the vendor file that represents the more commonly used vendors.  Once these vendors are identified, Purchasing will obtain a certification for the University as a whole to use.
   
   

3. The information that was sent last week regarding HB 1804 seemed to apply only to contractors or providers of service. Today's email applies the regulations to all invoices being processed through FSS, although the forms it directs us to use only indicates services only and not goods. Am I reading this correctly? Does this also apply to vendors we purchase from on the internet? Does it apply to vendors outside of Oklahoma?

   Here is another way of looking at the requirements:
   

   1. If you are purchasing services (less than $5K), you need to make sure you have a notarized statement from the vendor stating they comply with HB 1804
   2. If you are purchasing products (less than $5K), you do not need to have a notarized statement from the vendor stating they comply with HB 1804; however, you do need to put the compliance statement with each invoice you send over to FSS to pay.

4. The reason for requiring the stamp on all invoices (as opposed to just those for services) is to ensure that sponsors are thinking about the requirements of HB1804 when they process an invoice for payment and to expedite the processing of invoices submitted for payment. It is often difficult to ascertain from the invoice itself if services are included in the charges on the invoice. Departmental representatives are in the best position to determine what, if any, certifications are required from the vendor. By including the stamp on all invoices, the invoices will not be returned to the departments unnecessarily.

   The certification from the sponsor (the stamp) is required for all invoices regardless of whether the vendor is an internet vendor or an in state or out of state vendor.
   
   

5. When we have something framed by a store in Norman, that's a service.  However, if that store is not an independent contractor, do we still have to have the certification filled out by them as of July 1st?

   Yes, you would need a certification from the vendor whenever there are services involved.  HB1804 is not just directed at individual independent contractors.
   
   

6. Regarding the "verification" on each invoice - we have been instructed in more than one meeting that stamps will be provided to each department.  Do you know anything about this, and if so, is that still the case?

   Stamps will not be provided to each department.  Suggested language for a stamp has been provided.  This language can be incorporated into a stamp purchased by the department or included on/with the invoice when submitted to FSS.
   
   

7. While I am aware of HB 1804 generally, I don't know the specifics.  Is this stating that any faculty member who approves a payment on a research grant is certifying that he/she knows that no illegal immigrants were involved in the providing the services or manufacturing the item?

   As the sponsor of a department (grant or non-grant), the new policy requires you to certify that you have obtained the proper documentation to comply with HB1804, i.e. certification on page 8 or 10 of the information distributed last week, if services are being provided by a vendor.  It also requires that you include a stamp on all invoices submitted to FSS for payment.  The purpose of the stamp is to indicate two things:  1) you have obtained the proper certification if services are involved OR 2) you have considered the requirements of HB1804 and no certifications are necessary.
   
   

8. If a business renders a service to The University and that company is located with a permanent address outside of Oklahoma, they do not have anyone that lives in Oklahoma, nor a person physically located in Oklahoma, do we need to get the HB 1804 Certification from them?

   If the services are performed in Oklahoma, HB1804 requirements apply. The physical location of the vendor isn't the criteria that is used. For example, a vendor may be headquartered in California but if they send an employee of their company to Oklahoma to provide consulting services a certification from the vendor would be necessary.