BILL ANALYSIS



S.B. 1058
By: West (Bosse)
05-17-95
Committee Report (Unamended)


BACKGROUND

Various state and federal laws require the Texas Department of
Transportation (department) to perform environmental and cultural
assessment of construction sites.  Lacking a sufficient number of
staff members with the requisite expertise, the department
routinely procures these technical services from outside sources. 
The department is authorized to choose technical expert services
from an engineering firm pursuant to the Professional Services
Procurement Act, from other state agencies pursuant to the
Interagency Cooperation Act, or from the lowest bidder under the
purchase of service provisions in Section 3, Article 601b, V.T.C.S.

These statutes restrict the pool from which the department may
select providers of certain scientific services.  The Interagency
Cooperation Act effectively limits the department's choice to
university personnel, and the Professional Services Procurement Act
limits the department's choice to the experts who are on the staff
of engineering firms or to often costly subcontractors chosen by
the firm.  Although Article 601b permits access to a wide range of
providers, selection must be based on the fees charged, rather than
on the provider's qualifications or expertise.  There is no
provision in current law under which the department can directly
access technical experts who work independently and are not
affiliated with universities or engineering firms.

PURPOSE

As proposed, S.B. 1058 authorizes the Texas Department of
Transportation to use competitive sealed proposals to procure the
services of a technical expert to conduct an environmental or
cultural assessment required by law for a transportation project
within the authority or jurisdiction of the department.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is granted
to the Texas Department of Transportation in SECTION 1 (Article
6674i-5(g), Chapter 1, Title 116, V.T.C.S.) of this bill.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 1, Title 116, V.T.C.S., by adding Article
6674i-5, as follows:

     (a) Authorizes the Texas Department of Transportation
     (department) to follow a procedure using competitive sealed
     proposals to procure the services of a technical expert to
     conduct an environmental or cultural assessment required by
     law for a transportation project within the authority or
     jurisdiction of the department.
     
     (b) Requires the department to first determine that
     competitive sealed bidding or informal competitive bidding is
     not practical or is disadvantageous to the state.
     
     (c) Requires the department to solicit proposals by following
     the same notice procedure it uses in procuring services under
     the Professional Services Procurement Act, Government Code,
     Section 2254.001 et seq.
     
     (d) Requires the proposals to be opened so as to avoid
     disclosure of the contents to competing offerors during
     negotiation.  Requires all proposals submitted to be open for
     public inspection after the contract is awarded, with an
     exception.
     
     (e) Authorizes the department to discuss acceptable or
     potentially acceptable proposals with offerors in order to
     assess the person's ability to meet the requirements. 
     Authorizes the department to permit the offeror to revise the
     proposal in order to obtain the best final offer after the
     submission of a proposal but before making an award. 
     Prohibits the department from disclosing any information
     derived from proposals submitted in conducting discussions. 
     Requires the department to provide each offeror with an equal
     opportunity for discussion and revision.
     
     (f) Requires the department to make an award to the offeror
     with the most advantageous proposal to the state, but requires
     the department to refuse all offers if none are acceptable. 
     Requires the contract to state the basis on which the award is
     made.
     
     (g) Authorizes the department to adopt rules for the
     implementation of this article.
SECTION 2. Emergency clause.
           Effective date: upon passage.

SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION

Pursuant to a public notice announced from the House Floor on May
17, 1995, in accordance with House Rules, the House Committee on
Transportation met in a formal meeting on the House Floor, at Desk
22, on Wednesday, May 17, 1995, and was called to order by the
Chairman, Representative Clyde Alexander at 12:20 p.m.  The Chair
laid out S.B. 1058 by West/Bosse.  Representative Uher moved that
the Committee report S.B. 1058, without amendments, to the full
House with the recommendation that it do pass.  The motion
prevailed by the following vote: Ayes (6), Nayes (0), Absent (3),
Present not voting (0).