Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 23	House Author:  Davis, Sarah et al.
Effective:  9-1-15	Senate Sponsor:  Huffman

            House Bill 23 amends the Local Government Code to revise provisions relating to the disclosure of certain relationships with local government officers and vendors. The bill clarifies that those provisions apply to a local government officer who is an agent of a local governmental entity who exercises discretion in the planning, recommending, selecting, or contracting of a vendor, clarifies the definition of "vendor" for purposes of the applicability of those provisions,  and specifies that certain water districts are local governmental entities for purposes of those provisions. The bill revises provisions making it an offense for a local government officer or a vendor to knowingly fail to file, by a specified time, the required conflicts statement or questionnaire, as applicable, disclosing certain relationships with the appropriate records administrator and establishes penalties depending on the amount of the contract at issue.

The bill decreases the aggregate value of gifts accepted by a local government officer and any family member of the officer from a vendor that triggers the requirement that the officer file a conflicts disclosure statement, unless the local governmental entity or vendor is an administrative agency created to supervise the performance of an interlocal contract, and includes as a condition that triggers the requirement for a vendor to file a conflict of interest questionnaire that the vendor has a family relationship with a local government officer of a local governmental entity with which the vendor has a business relationship. The bill specifies that a person who is both a local government officer and a vendor of a local governmental entity is required to file a conflict of interest questionnaire only if the person enters or seeks to enter into a contract with the local governmental entity or is an agent of a person who enters or seeks to enter into a contract with the local governmental entity.

            Among other things, the bill authorizes the governing body of a local governmental entity to declare a contract void if the governing body determines that a vendor failed to file a conflict of interest questionnaire, with certain exceptions, and repeals a provision establishing that a local governmental entity does not have a duty to ensure that a vendor files a conflict of interest questionnaire.