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House Bill 1491 |
House Author: Woolley |
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Effective: 5-25-07 |
Senate Sponsor: Williams |
House Bill 1491 amends Chapter 176 of the Local Government Code, which relates to the disclosure of information about certain relationships between local government officers and persons who contract with local governmental entities. The bill establishes that a charter school is a local governmental entity subject to the provisions of the chapter and revises definitions to clarify terms used in the chapter. The bill specifies that the employees of a local governmental entity who may be required to file a conflicts disclosure statement include any employee who has the authority to approve contracts on behalf of the governmental entity. The bill also requires the entity to identify each employee it makes subject to the filing requirement and to provide a list of the identified employees on request to any person.
House Bill 1491 modifies the criteria used to determine whether a vendor must file a conflict of interest questionnaire and whether an employee must file a conflicts disclosure statement. The bill provides that a local governmental entity is not required to ensure that a vendor files a conflict of interest questionnaire and that the validity of a contract between a vendor and a local governmental entity is not affected solely because the vendor fails to comply with requirements related to filing such a questionnaire. If a local governmental entity maintains an Internet website, the website must provide access to the questionnaires and statements filed under this chapter. The bill sets out a retention schedule for filings under this chapter.