JBM C.S.H.B. 3011 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS NATURAL RESOURCES C.S.H.B. 3011 By: Jackson 3-26-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND The 70th Legislature adopted procedures that could be adopted by a navigation district or port authority under subchapter N of Chapter 60 of the Water Code for purchasing requirements. Section 60.403 indicates that an individual purchase order must be signed and duplicated before a routine purchase under $25,000 may be made, even if such an item is an expected and necessary item of expense. Because there are many small routine purchases made for standard necessities, such as water and electricity, it is inefficient to require that an individual purchase order be signed and duplicated each time a bill of such nature is paid. PURPOSE To allow the district or port authority to maintain a list of standard items with precommitment approval which would make the process more efficient and eliminate unnecessary duplication. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 60.403 of the Water Code to provide as follows: (a) No change from existing statutory language (other than subsection designation). (b) Allows some other form of precommitment approval in addition to a standard purchase order as a means of approving a routine small item of expenses; provides that, for routine contracts or purchases, the approval may be in the form of a list signed by the executive director; signed list shall remain on file in the offices of the district or port authority. (c) Changes "The" to "A" in describing purchase orders that must be executed in duplicate. (d) Provides that the precommitment list must be approved by the county auditor if any of the items on the list require the approval of the county auditor. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997. This Act applies only to purchases made after effective date. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute for HB 3011 breaks down Section 1 of the original into subsections (a)-(c), with no significant changes. The substitute also adds a new subsection (d) under Section 1, which provides that the precommitment list must be approved by the county auditor if any of the items on the list require the approval of the county auditor.