74(R) HB 52 Senate Committee Report

BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 52
By: McCall (Shapiro)
Intergovernmental Relations
5-22-95
Senate Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND

Local governments are required to make purchases through a contract
bidding or proposal process in oder to ensure competition for a
specific purchase such as insurance, high technology, and special
services.

PURPOSE

As proposed, C.S.H.B. 52 amends provisions relating to the
authority of state and local governments to make purchases and
contracts and to engage in certain projects.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or
agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 252.022(a), Local Government Code, to
provide that this chapter does not apply to an expenditure for
personal property sold under an interlocal contract for cooperative
purchasing administered by a regional planning commission
established under Chapter 391, among other items.

SECTION 2. Amends Section 262.030, Local Government Code, as
follows:

Sec. 262.030. ALTERNATIVE COMPETITIVE PROPOSAL PROCEDURE FOR
INSURANCE, HIGH TECHNOLOGY ITEMS, AND SPECIAL SERVICES. (a)
Authorizes the competitive proposal procedure provided by this
section to be used for the purchase of insurance, high
technology items, and certain special services.

(b) Created from existing text.

SECTION 3. Amends Section 262.031(b), Local Government Code, to
authorize a commissioners court to grant general authority to an
employee to approve change orders, if a change order involves an
increase or decrease in cost of $50,000, rather than $15,000, or
less.

SECTION 4. Amends 263.152(a), Local Government Code, to authorize
a commissioners court of a county, among other certain actions, to
periodically sell the county's surplus or salvage property by
competitive bid or auction, except that competitive bidding or an
auction is not necessary if the purchaser is another county.

SECTION 5. Amends Section 271.083(a), Local Government Code, to
authorize a local government to participate in the purchasing
program of the State Purchasing and General Services Commission
(commission) by filing with the commission a resolution adopted by
the governing body of the local government requesting that the
local government will be allowed to participate on a voluntary
basis, and to the extent the commission deems feasible, and stating
that the local government be responsible for electronically sending
purchase orders directly to vendors and electronically sending to
the commission reports on actual purchases made under this
paragraph that provide the information and are sent at the times
required by the commission, in addition to other responsibilities.

SECTION 6. Amends Chapter 271, Local Government Code, by adding
Subchapter F, as follows:

SUBCHAPTER F. COOPERATIVE PURCHASING PROGRAM

Sec. 271.101. DEFINITIONS. Defines "local cooperative
organization" and "local government."

Sec. 271.102. COOPERATIVE PURCHASING PROGRAM PARTICIPATION.
(a) Authorizes a local government to participate in a
cooperative purchasing program with another local government
or a local cooperative organization.

(b) Authorizes a local government that is participating in
a cooperative purchasing program to sign an agreement with
another participating local government or a local
cooperative organization stating that the signing local
government will execute certain actions.

(c) Provides that a local government that purchases goods
or services under this subchapter satisfies any state law
requiring the local government to seek competitive bids for
the purchase of the goods or services.

SECTION 7. Amends Chapter 271Z, Local Government Code, by adding
Section 271.904, as follows:

Sec. 271.904. INDEMNIFICATION. (a) Provides that a contract
for design or engineering services to which a governmental
agency is a party may not include a provision requiring a
design professional registered under Article 3271a, V.T.C.S.
(Texas Engineering Act), to indemnify the governmental agency
for damages arising from the sole negligence of the
governmental agency.

(b) Provides that a provision in violation of this section
is void.

SECTION 8. Amends Article 3271a, V.T.C.S., as follows:

Sec. 19. PUBLIC WORK. (a) Deletes a restriction that
nothing in this Act shall be held to apply to any public work
wherein the contemplated expenditure for the completed project
does not exceed $8,000.

(b) Provides that this Act does not apply to a certain
types of public works and certain road maintenance or
betterment work undertaken by the commissioners court of a
county.

SECTION 9. Amends Chapter 122, Human Resources Code, by adding
Section 122.020, as follows:

Sec. 122.020. APPLICATION OF OTHER LAW. Provides that
Chapters 252, 262, and 271, Local Government Code, do not
supersede this chapter.

SECTION 10. Amends Section 791.026(a), Government Code, as
follows:

Sec. 791.026. New heading: CONTRACTS BY CERTAIN HOME-RULE
MUNICIPALITIES FOR WATER SUPPLY AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT
FACILITIES. (a) Authorizes a home-rule municipality that has
a charter provision requiring an election to enter into a
contract for water supply or wastewater service to contract
with another municipality, a district, or a river authority of
this state to obtain or provide part or all of certain
utilities.

SECTION 11. Amends Chapter 791C, Government Code, by adding
Section 791.0265, as follows:

Sec. 791.0265. CONTRACTS BY CERTAIN OTHER POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS FOR WATER SUPPLY AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT
FACILITIES. (a) Provides that a municipality, except a home-rule municipality described by Section 791.026(a), a district,
a municipally owned utility, or a river authority of this
state has authority, regardless of any other law, to contract
on approval by the governing body of the municipality,
district, or river authority, without the necessity of holding
an election, with certain entities for a purpose described by
Subsection (b).

(b) Authorizes an interlocal agreement to be made to obtain
or provide part or all of the preparation of plans for, and
the determination of the feasibility, finance, design,
construction, operation, maintenance, and provision of,
water supply or wastewater treatment services or facilities;
or a lease or operation of water supply facilities or
wastewater treatment facilities.

(c) Authorizes the contract to provide that the
municipality, district, municipally owned utility, or river
authority obtaining one of the services may not obtain those
services from a source other than a contracting party,
except as provided by the contract.

(d) Provides that payments made under the contract are the
paying party's operating expenses for its water supply
system, wastewater treatment facilities, or both, if a
contract includes a term described by Subsection (c).

(e) Authorizes the contract to contain terms and extend for
any period on which the parties agree and provide that it
will continue in effect until bonds specified by the
contract and any refunding bonds issued to pay those bonds
are paid.

(f) Prohibits tax revenue from being pledged to the payment
of amounts agreed to be paid under the contract.

(g) Provides that the powers granted by this section
prevail over a limitation contained in another law.

(h) Requires a contract between a local government of this
state and a local government of a state of the United States
that borders this state to provide that the laws and
judicial decisions of this state regarding sovereign
immunity or the waiver of sovereign immunity to apply to any
claim brought against a local government of this state or
its employees arising out of the acts or omissions of the
local government's employees acting in the employee's scope
of employment that occurred in the bordering state.

(i) Defines "scope of employment."
SECTION 12. Emergency clause.
Effective date: upon passage.