By: Ellis, West, Barrientos S.B. No. 1380
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the creation of an electronic state business daily to
1-2 give notice before a state agency makes a procurement with a value
1-3 that exceeds $25,000.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 2155, Government Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 2155.074 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 2155.074. STATE BUSINESS DAILY; NOTICE REGARDING
1-8 PROCUREMENTS EXCEEDING $25,000. (a) This section applies to each
1-9 state agency making a procurement that will exceed $25,000 in
1-10 value, without regard to the source of funds the agency will use
1-11 for the procurement, including a procurement that:
1-12 (1) is otherwise exempt from the commission's
1-13 purchasing authority or the application of this subtitle;
1-14 (2) is made under delegated purchasing authority;
1-15 (3) is related to a construction project; or
1-16 (4) is a procurement of professional or consulting
1-17 services.
1-18 (b) In this section, "department" means the Texas Department
1-19 of Commerce.
1-20 (c) The department each business day shall produce and post
1-21 a business daily in an electronic format. The department shall
1-22 post in the business daily information as prescribed by this
1-23 section about each state agency procurement that will exceed
2-1 $25,000 in value. The department shall also post in the business
2-2 daily other information relating to the business activity of the
2-3 state that the department considers to be of interest to the
2-4 public.
2-5 (d) The department shall make the business daily available
2-6 on the Internet through its information service known as the Texas
2-7 Marketplace or through a suitable successor information service
2-8 that will make the information available on the Internet. The
2-9 department and each state agency shall cooperate in making the
2-10 electronic business daily available.
2-11 (e) To accommodate businesses that do not have the technical
2-12 means to access the business daily, governmental and
2-13 nongovernmental entities such as public libraries, chambers of
2-14 commerce, trade associations, small business development centers,
2-15 economic development departments of local governments, and state
2-16 agencies may provide public access to the business daily. A
2-17 governmental entity may recover the direct cost of providing the
2-18 public access only by charging a fee for downloading procurement
2-19 notices and bid or proposal solicitation packages posted in the
2-20 business daily. A nongovernmental entity may use information
2-21 posted in the business daily in providing a service that is more
2-22 than only the downloading of information from the business daily,
2-23 including a service by which appropriate bidders or offerors are
2-24 matched with information that is relevant to those bidders or
2-25 offerors, and may charge a lawful fee that the entity considers
3-1 appropriate for the service.
3-2 (f) The department and other state agencies may not charge a
3-3 fee designed to recover the cost of preparing and gathering the
3-4 information that is published in the business daily. These costs
3-5 are considered part of a procuring agency's responsibility to
3-6 publicly inform potential bidders or offerors of its procurement
3-7 opportunities.
3-8 (g) The department shall post in the business daily either
3-9 the entire bid or proposal solicitation package or a notice that
3-10 includes at a minimum the following information for each
3-11 procurement that a state agency will make that is estimated to
3-12 exceed $25,000 in value:
3-13 (1) a brief description of the goods or services to be
3-14 procured and any applicable state product or service codes for the
3-15 goods and services;
3-16 (2) the last date on which bids, proposals, or other
3-17 applicable expressions of interest will be accepted;
3-18 (3) the estimated cost of the procurement;
3-19 (4) the estimated quantity of goods or services to be
3-20 procured;
3-21 (5) if applicable, the previous price paid by the
3-22 state agency for the same or similar goods or services;
3-23 (6) the estimated date on which the goods or services
3-24 to be procured will be needed; and
3-25 (7) the name, business mailing address, and business
4-1 telephone number of the state agency employee a person may contact
4-2 to obtain all necessary information related to making a bid or
4-3 proposal or other applicable expression of interest for the
4-4 procurement contract.
4-5 (h) The department shall continue to either:
4-6 (1) post notice of the procurement in accordance with
4-7 Subsection (g) until the latest of 15 calendar days after the date
4-8 the notice is first posted; the date the state agency will no
4-9 longer accept bids, proposals, or other applicable expressions of
4-10 interest for the procurement; or the date the state agency decides
4-11 not to make the procurement; or
4-12 (2) post the entire bid or proposal solicitation
4-13 package in accordance with Subsection (g) until the latest of 15
4-14 calendar days after the date the bid or proposal solicitation
4-15 package is first posted; the date the state agency will no longer
4-16 accept bids, proposals, or other applicable expressions of interest
4-17 for the procurement; or the date the state agency decides not to
4-18 make the procurement.
4-19 (i) A state agency may not award the procurement contract
4-20 and shall continue to accept bids or proposals or other applicable
4-21 expressions of interest for the procurement contract for at least
4-22 15 calendar days after the date the department first posted notice
4-23 of the procurement in accordance with Subsection (g) or 15 calendar
4-24 days after the date the department first posted the entire bid or
4-25 proposal solicitation package in accordance with Subsection (g), as
5-1 applicable. The minimum time for posting required by this
5-2 subsection and Subsection (h) does not apply in an emergency
5-3 requiring the state agency to make the procurement more quickly to
5-4 prevent a hazard to life, health, safety, welfare, or property or
5-5 to avoid undue additional cost to the state.
5-6 (j) A contract or procurement award made by a state agency
5-7 that violates the applicable minimum time for posting required by
5-8 Subsections (h) and (i) is void.
5-9 (k) Each state agency that will award a procurement contract
5-10 estimated to exceed $25,000 in value shall send to the department:
5-11 (1) the information the department requires for
5-12 posting in the state business daily under this section; and
5-13 (2) a notice when the procurement contract has been
5-14 awarded or when the state agency has decided to not make the
5-15 procurement.
5-16 (l) The department may adopt rules, prescribe forms, and
5-17 require information to administer this section. The department
5-18 shall send any proposed rules to the governor, Legislative Budget
5-19 Board, comptroller, state auditor, and commission for review and
5-20 comment.
5-21 (m) The requirements of this section are in addition to the
5-22 requirements of other law relating to the solicitation of bids,
5-23 proposals, or expressions of interest for a procurement by a state
5-24 agency. This section does not affect whether a state agency is
5-25 required to award a procurement contract through competitive
6-1 bidding, competitive sealed proposals, or another method.
6-2 SECTION 2. The minimum posting time requirement of
6-3 Subsections (h) and (i), Section 2155.074, Government Code, as
6-4 added by this Act, and the provisions of Subsection (j), Section
6-5 2155.074, Government Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a
6-6 procurement contract awarded on or after July 1, 1998.
6-7 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect June 1, 1998, except that
6-8 the Texas Department of Commerce may adopt rules, procedures, and
6-9 forms and make agreements necessary to administer this Act
6-10 beginning September 1, 1997.
6-11 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.