BILL ANALYSIS
H.B. 2658
By: Hilderbran (Galloway)
Health and Human Services
05-17-95
Senate Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND
In the late 1970s, Texas adopted the policy of encouraging and
assisting blind and severely disabled persons to achieve maximum
independence by engaging them in productive employment activities.
To implement this policy, the state created a program whereby
products and services performed by people with disabilities would
receive special treatment in the purchasing procedures of state
agencies. The Texas Committee on Purchases of Products and
Services of Blind and Severely Disabled Persons was established to
determine the fair market value of the products and services.
PURPOSE
As proposed, H.B. 2658 creates the Texas Council on Purchasing from
People with Disabilities, to replace the Committee on Purchases of
Products and Services of Blind and Severely Disabled Persons.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is granted
to the Texas Council on Purchasing from People with Disabilities
under SECTION 1 (Section 122.013(a), Human Resources Code) of this
bill.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 122, Human Resources Code, as follows:
CHAPTER 122. New heading: TEXAS COUNCIL ON PURCHASING FROM
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Sec. 122.001. PURPOSE. Declares that the purpose of this
chapter is, among others, to further the state's policy of
encouraging and assisting persons with disabilities to achieve
maximum personal independence by engaging in useful and
productive employment activities. Makes a nonsubstantive
change.
Sec. 122.002. DEFINITIONS. Defines "central nonprofit
agency," "commission," "community rehabilitation program,"
"council," and "disability."
Sec. 122.003. New heading: TEXAS COUNCIL ON PURCHASING FROM
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. (a) Declares that the Texas Council
on Purchasing from People with Disabilities (council), in
place of the Texas Committee on Purchases of Products and
Services of Blind and Severely Disabled Persons (committee),
is composed of three private citizens conversant with the
employment needs of persons with disabilities, including
blindness, and with current experience in the pricing and
marketing of goods and services; three representatives of
community rehabilitation programs that represent different
disability groups and that provide or seek to provide products
produced or services performed by persons with disabilities;
and three representatives of state agencies or political
subdivisions that purchase a significant amount of products
produced or services performed by persons with disabilities.
Deletes certain other members.
(b) Provides that council members serve staggered terms of
six years with the terms of three members expiring on
January 31 of each odd-numbered year. Deletes a provision
regarding the sharing of the costs of member reimbursement.
Makes a conforming change.
(c) Requires the governor to select one council member to
serve as presiding officer.
(d) Declares that a person is not eligible for appointment
as a member to the council under Subsection (a)(1) if the
person or the person's spouse partakes in certain activities
related to the council. Deletes a provision regarding a
member who is unable to attend a meeting.
(e) Prohibits a person from serving as a member of the
council who is required to register as a lobbyist under
Chapter 305, Government Code, because of the person's
activities for compensation on behalf of a profession
related to the operation of the council.
(f) Requires appointments to the council to be made without
regard to certain personal characteristics, including
disability and age.
(g) Provides that it is a ground for removal from the
council if a member, among other acts, violates a
prohibition established by Subsection (d) or (e) of this
section; cannot because of disability or illness discharge
the member's duties for the substantial part of the term for
which the member is appointed; or is absent from more than
half of the regularly scheduled meetings that the member is
eligible to attend during a calendar year, unless the
absence is excused by a majority vote of the council. Makes
conforming changes.
(h) Makes conforming changes.
(i) Requires the executive director of the General Services
Commission (executive director), if the executive director
has knowledge that a potential ground for removal exists, to
notify the presiding officer of the council. Requires the
presiding officer, if the presiding officer is notified or
has knowledge that a potential ground for removal exists, to
notify the governor and attorney general. Requires the
executive director, if the potential ground for removal
involves the presiding officer, to notify the governor and
the attorney general that a potential ground for removal
exists.
(j) Authorizes the council to establish criteria for the
recognition and approval of community rehabilitation
programs.
Sec. 122.004. INFORMATION RELATING TO STANDARDS OF CONDUCT.
Requires the presiding officer of the council or a designee to
provide the members of the council information regarding their
qualification for office under this chapter and their
responsibilities under applicable laws relating to the
standards of conduct for state officers.
Sec. 122.005. MEMBER TRAINING. (a) Requires the member,
before assuming council duties and being confirmed by the
senate, to complete at least one course of the training
program established under this section.
(b) Requires a training program under this section to
provide certain information to the council member.
Sec. 122.006. SUNSET PROVISION. Redesignates existing
Section 122.003. Makes conforming changes.
Sec. 122.007. FAIR MARKET PRICE; PURCHASING PROCEDURES.
Redesignates existing Section 122.004. (a) Requires the
council to determine the fair market price of products and
services manufactured and provided by persons with
disabilities and offered for sale to the various agencies and
departments of the state and its political subdivisions by a
community rehabilitation program, rather than certain
nonprofit agencies.
(b) Requires a subcommittee composed of three council
members appointed by the presiding officer, rather than the
chairman, to review the data used to determine fair market
price. Makes a conforming change.
(c) Makes conforming changes.
(d) Redesignates existing Subsection (e). Deletes
rulemaking authority regarding a central nonprofit agency.
Makes a nonsubstantive change.
Sec. 122.008. PROCUREMENT AT DETERMINED PRICE. Redesignates
existing Section 122.005. Makes conforming changes.
Sec. 122.009. RECORDS. Redesignates existing Section
122.006. (a) Requires the records of the council and of a
central nonprofit agency, to the extent that the records
pertain specifically to state purchases of products and
services of persons with disabilities, to be made available to
the inspection of certain persons. Declares that a document
that is available for inspection under this subsection is an
open record for purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code.
(b) Declares that the General Services Commission
(commission), rather than the Texas Commission for the
Blind, is the depository for all records concerning the
council's operations.
(c) Subjects the council to Chapter 552, Government Code.
Sec. 122.010. COOPERATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL
JUSTICE. Redesignates existing Section 122.007. Authorizes
the council to cooperate with the institutional division of
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for the purposes of
this chapter. Makes conforming changes.
Sec. 122.011. CORRELATION WITH RELATED FEDERAL PROGRAMS.
Redesignates existing Section 122.008. Makes a conforming
change.
Sec. 122.012. New heading: DUTIES OF COMMISSION; INTERAGENCY
COOPERATION. Redesignates existing Section 122.009. (a)
Requires the commission to provide legal, clerical,
administrative, and other necessary support to the council in
accordance with legislative appropriation.
(b) Makes conforming changes.
(c) Prohibits the commission or a state agency from assuming
the marketing or fiscal responsibility for the expense of
marketing products and services under the program.
Sec. 122.013. RULES. Redesignates existing Section 122.010.
Authorizes the council to adopt rules for the implementation,
extension, administration, or improvement of the program
authorized by this chapter in accordance with Chapter 2001,
Government Code.
(b) Requires the commission to provide legal support to
assist the council in adopting rules under this section.
Deletes language regarding approval of the rules.
Sec. 122.014. PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS. Redesignates existing
Section 122.011. Makes nonsubstantive changes.
Sec. 122.015. DETERMINATIONS OF FAIR MARKET VALUE.
Redesignates existing Section 122.012. (a) Requires the
subcommittee established under Section 122.007(b) and the
council, in determining the fair market value of products or
services offered for sale under this chapter, to consider,
among other factors, the actual cost of manufacturing the
product or performing a service at a community rehabilitation
program, rather than a sheltered workshop. Makes conforming
changes.
(b) Provides that the actual cost of manufacturing a product
or performing a service consists of costs directly
associated with a contract, and do not include a cost
associated with an individual's preparation to perform the
work activity.
(c) Created from existing text.
Sec. 122.016. EXCEPTIONS. Redesignates existing Section
122.013. Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes.
Sec. 122.017. PROCUREMENT FOR POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.
Redesignates existing Section 122.014. Makes conforming
changes.
Sec. 122.018. POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS EXCLUDED. Redesignates
existing Section 122.015. Excludes certain political
subdivisions from the mandatory application of this chapter.
Provides that this chapter does not prohibit a political
subdivision from acting as a willing buyer outside a bid
system. Deletes language regarding the sale of products to a
willing buyer.
Sec. 122.019. New heading: CENTRAL NONPROFIT AGENCY.
Redesignates existing Section 122.016. (a) Requires the
council to contract with a central nonprofit agency to recruit
and assist community rehabilitation programs in developing and
submitting applications for the selection of suitable products
and services, facilitate the distribution of orders among
qualified community rehabilitation programs, manage and
coordinate the day-to-day operation of the program, and
promote increased supported employment opportunities for
persons with disabilities. Deletes a provision regarding the
submission of a budget request.
(b) Authorizes the services of the central nonprofit agency
to include marketing and marketing support services. Makes
a conforming change.
(c) Requires the council to review annually the services
provided by a central nonprofit agency and the revenues
required to accomplish the program to determine whether each
agency's performance complies with contractual
specifications. Requires the council to publish in the
Texas Register by a certain date a request for comment on
the services of a central nonprofit agency that participates
in community rehabilitation programs. Makes a conforming
change.
(d) Requires the council, at least once a year during each
two-year period, to review and negotiate the contract with
a central nonprofit agency. Requires the council to publish
notice of the proposed contract in the Texas Register by a
certain date. Makes a conforming change.
(e) Requires the maximum management fee rate charged by a
central nonprofit agency for its services to the program to
be computed as a percentage of the selling price of the
product or the contract price of a service, to be included
in the selling or contract price, to be paid at the time of
sale, and to be approved by the council.
(f) Requires a percentage of the management fee rate under
Subsection (e) to be paid to and to be set by the council.
Subjects the percentage to Section 122.023.
Sec. 122.020. CONSUMER INFORMATION; COMPLAINTS. Redesignates
existing Section 122.017. Makes conforming changes.
Sec. 122.021. PUBLIC TESTIMONY AND ACCESS. (a) Requires the
council to develop and implement policies that provide the
public with a reasonable opportunity to appear before the
council.
(b) Requires the council to comply with federal and state
laws related to program and facility accessibility, and to
prepare and maintain a written plan that describes how a
person who does not speak English can be provided reasonable
access to the council's programs and services.
Sec. 122.022. REPORTS. Redesignates existing Section
122.018. Requires the council to file with the governor and
presiding officer of each house of the legislature an annual
report that meets the reporting requirements applicable to
financial reporting under the General Appropriations Act.
Makes conforming changes.
Sec. 122.023. COUNCIL FUNDS. Subjects all money paid to the
council under this chapter to Chapter 404F, Government Code.
Sec. 122.024. STRATEGIC PLAN; FINAL OPERATING PLAN. Requires
the council to prepare an agency strategic plan and a final
operating plan as required by Chapter 2054E, Government Code.
Sec. 122.025. OPEN MEETINGS; ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE.
Redesignates existing Section 122.019. Makes conforming and
nonsubstantive changes.
SECTION 2. Changes the name of the Texas Committee on Purchases of
Products and Services of Blind and Severely Disabled Persons to the
Texas Council on Purchasing from People with Disabilities.
Declares that any reference in the law to the committee means the
council.
SECTION 3. (a) Requires the council, before using new stationery
or other supplies printed with the name of the council, to use all
supplies printed with the council's former name and that are in the
council's possession on the effective date of this Act.
(b) Provides that an appropriation made to the committee is
available to the council under its name as adopted by this
Act.
SECTION 4. Sets forth guidelines and requirements for initial
appointments to the council.
SECTION 5. Requires the Texas Commission for the Blind, not later
than January 31, 1996, to transfer to the General Services
Commission records maintained by the Texas Commission for the Blind
relating to the operations of the committee.
SECTION 6. Authorizes an agreement between the committee and a
central nonprofit agency to be extended until all of the
appointments to the council have been made.
SECTION 7. Effective date: September 1, 1995.
SECTION 8. Emergency clause.