By Sadler                                             H.B. No. 2989
       74R6209 MRB-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the circumstances under which a county may purchase an
    1-3  item without following the statutory competitive purchasing
    1-4  procedures.
    1-5        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-6        SECTION 1.  Section 262.024(a), Local Government Code, is
    1-7  amended to read as follows:
    1-8        (a)  A contract for the purchase of any of the following
    1-9  items is exempt from the requirement established by Section 262.023
   1-10  if the commissioners court by order grants the exemption:
   1-11              (1)  an item that must be purchased in a case of public
   1-12  calamity if it is necessary to make the purchase promptly to
   1-13  relieve the necessity of the citizens or to preserve the property
   1-14  of the county;
   1-15              (2)  an item necessary to preserve or protect the
   1-16  public health or safety of the residents of the county;
   1-17              (3)  an item necessary because of unforeseen damage to
   1-18  public property;
   1-19              (4)  a personal or professional service;
   1-20              (5)  any work performed and paid for by the day, as the
   1-21  work progresses;
   1-22              (6)  any land or right-of-way;
   1-23              (7)  an item that can be obtained from only one source,
   1-24  including:
    2-1                    (A)  items for which competition is precluded
    2-2  because of the existence of patents, copyrights, secret processes,
    2-3  or monopolies;
    2-4                    (B)  films, manuscripts, or books;
    2-5                    (C)  electric power, gas, water, and other
    2-6  utility services; and
    2-7                    (D)  captive replacement parts or components for
    2-8  equipment;
    2-9              (8)  an item of food;
   2-10              (9)  personal property sold:
   2-11                    (A)  at an auction by a state licensed
   2-12  auctioneer;
   2-13                    (B)  at a going out of business sale held in
   2-14  compliance with Subchapter F, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce Code;
   2-15  or
   2-16                    (C)  by a political subdivision of this state, a
   2-17  state agency of this state, or an entity of the federal government;
   2-18  <or>
   2-19              (10)  any work performed under a contract for community
   2-20  and economic development made by a county under Section 381.004; or
   2-21              (11)  an item purchased under Section 262.0301.
   2-22        SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 262, Local Government Code,
   2-23  is amended by adding Section 262.0301 to read as follows:
   2-24        Sec. 262.0301.  PURCHASE WITHOUT FOLLOWING STATUTORY
   2-25  COMPETITIVE PROCEDURES.  (a)  A county may contract to purchase an
   2-26  item without following the competitive bidding or competitive
   2-27  proposal procedures prescribed by this subchapter if the county:
    3-1              (1)  attempted at least three times to make the
    3-2  purchase under the competitive bidding or competitive proposal
    3-3  procedures prescribed by this subchapter; and
    3-4              (2)  failed each time to make the purchase under those
    3-5  procedures because all bids or proposals were rejected or because
    3-6  no bids or proposals were received.
    3-7        (b)  The commissioners court by order shall establish the
    3-8  procedures by which a purchase shall be made under this section.
    3-9        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-10  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-11  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-12  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-13  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-14  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-15  passage, and it is so enacted.