By:  West                                             S.B. No. 1058
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation
    1-2  to procure certain services by competitive sealed proposal.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Chapter 1, Title 116, Revised Statutes, is
    1-5  amended by adding Article 6674i-5 to read as follows:
    1-6        (a)  The Texas Department of Transportation may follow a
    1-7  procedure using competitive sealed proposals to procure the
    1-8  services of an archeologist, biologist, geologist, historian, or
    1-9  other technical expert to conduct an environmental or cultural
   1-10  assessment required by state or federal law for a transportation
   1-11  project within the authority or jurisdiction of the department.
   1-12        (b)  To procure services under this section, the department
   1-13  must first determine that competitive sealed bidding or informal
   1-14  competitive bidding is not practical or is disadvantageous to the
   1-15  state.
   1-16        (c)  The department shall solicit proposals by a request for
   1-17  proposals following the same notice procedure it uses in procuring
   1-18  services under the Professional Services Procurement Act,
   1-19  Government Code, Section 2254.001 et seq.
   1-20        (d)  The proposals shall be opened so as to avoid disclosure
   1-21  of contents to competing offerors during the process of
   1-22  negotiation.  After the contract is awarded, all proposals that
   1-23  have been submitted shall be open for public inspection except as
    2-1  provided in Government Code, Section 552.001 et seq.
    2-2        (e)  As provided in a request for proposals and under rules
    2-3  adopted by the commission, the department may discuss acceptable or
    2-4  potentially acceptable proposals with offerors in order to assess
    2-5  an offeror's ability to meet the solicitation requirements.  After
    2-6  the submission of a proposal but before making an award, the
    2-7  department may permit the offeror to revise the proposal in order
    2-8  to obtain the best final offer.  The department may not disclose
    2-9  any information derived from proposals submitted from competing
   2-10  offerors in conducting discussions under this section.  The
   2-11  department shall provide each offeror with an equal opportunity for
   2-12  discussion and revision of proposals.
   2-13        (f)  The department shall make a written award of a contract
   2-14  to the offeror whose proposal is the most advantageous to the
   2-15  state, considering price and the evaluation factors in the request
   2-16  for proposals, except that if the department finds that none of the
   2-17  offers is acceptable, it shall refuse all offers.  The contract
   2-18  file must state in writing the basis on which the award is made.
   2-19        (g)  The department may adopt rules for the implementation of
   2-20  this article.
   2-21        SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-22  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-23  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-24  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-25  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
    3-1  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
    3-2  passage, and it is so enacted.