By: Bell of Kaufman, et al. H.B. No. 679
        (Senate Sponsor - Schwertner)
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2023;
  April 27, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Business & Commerce; May 11, 2023, reported adversely, with
  favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 11,
  Nays 0; May 11, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 679 By:  Nichols
 
 
 
  COMMITTEE VOTE
 
 
         YeaNayAbsentPNV
         SchwertnerX
         KingX
         BirdwellX
         CampbellX
         CreightonX
         JohnsonX
         KolkhorstX
         MenéndezX
         MiddletonX
         NicholsX
         ZaffiriniX
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to limitations on the use of workers' compensation
  insurance experience modifier values in soliciting and awarding
  public construction contracts.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 2252, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 2252.909 to read as follows:
         Sec. 2252.909.  VOIDABLE CONTRACT PROVISION:  EXPERIENCE
  MODIFIER. (a)  In this section:
               (1)  "Contract" means a contract awarded by a
  governmental entity that is:
                     (A)  a construction contract, as defined by
  Section 272.0001, Business & Commerce Code; or
                     (B)  a contract for constructing, altering, or
  repairing a public building or carrying out or completing any
  public work.
               (2)  "Contract solicitation" means a request for bids,
  proposals, qualifications, offers, or other responses from
  potential contractors under a contract.
               (3)  "Experience modifier" means a factor expressed as
  a value that:
                     (A)  is assigned to an employer seeking to
  purchase a workers' compensation insurance policy in this state;
                     (B)  affects the premium amount for the policy;
  and
                     (C)  is based on the employer's past loss
  experience.
               (4)  "Governmental entity" means: 
                     (A)  a department, commission, board, office, or
  other agency in the executive branch of state government created by
  the state constitution or a state statute, including an institution
  of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code;
  or
                     (B)  a political subdivision of this state,
  including a municipality, county, or special purpose district.
         (b)  With respect to a contract:
               (1)  an offer to contract may not contain a term
  requiring a person to have a specified experience modifier in order
  to accept the offer; and
               (2)  a contract solicitation may not require a person
  to have a specified experience modifier in order to submit a
  response to the contract solicitation.
         (c)  A contract or an agreement collateral to or affecting a
  contract may not require the contractor to have a specified
  experience modifier.
         (d)  A contract solicitation, an offer, a contract, or an
  agreement collateral to or affecting a contract that violates
  Subsection (b) or (c) is voidable as against public policy.
         SECTION 2.  Section 2252.909, Government Code, as added by
  this Act, applies only to a contract for which a governmental entity
  first advertises or otherwise solicits offers on or after the
  effective date of this Act.  A contract for which a governmental
  entity first advertised or otherwise solicited offers before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date the governmental entity first advertised or otherwise
  solicited offers, and that law is continued in effect for that
  purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
  * * * * *