Administrative procedure.

(1) The department may at any time adopt emergency rules pursuant to s. 120.54. The Legislature finds that such emergency rulemaking power is necessary for the preservation of the rights and welfare of the people in order to provide additional funds to benefit the public. The Legislature further finds that the unique nature of state lottery operations requires, from time to time, that the department respond as quickly as is practicable to changes in the marketplace. Therefore, in adopting such emergency rules, the department need not make the findings required by s. 120.54(4)(a). Emergency rules adopted under this section are exempt from s. 120.54(4)(c) and shall remain in effect until replaced by other emergency rules or by rules adopted under the nonemergency rulemaking procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act.

(2) The provisions of s. 120.57(3) apply to the department’s contracting process, except that:

(a) A formal written protest of any decision, intended decision, or other action subject to protest shall be filed within 72 hours after receipt of notice of the decision, intended decision, or other action.

(b) In a competitive procurement protest, including the rejection of all bids, proposals, or replies, the administrative law judge shall not substitute his or her procurement decision for the agency’s procurement decision but shall review the intended agency action only to determine if the agency action is illegal, arbitrary, dishonest, or fraudulent.

(c) As an alternative to any provision in s. 120.57(3)(c), the department may proceed with the bid solicitation or contract award process when the secretary of the department sets forth in writing particular facts and circumstances which require the continuance of the bid solicitation process or the contract award process in order to avoid a substantial loss of funding to the state or to avoid substantial disruption of the timetable for any scheduled lottery game.