By Ellis, et al. S.B. No. 1380
75R1214 JRD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation of a state business daily to give notice
1-3 before a state agency makes a procurement with a value that exceeds
1-4 $25,000.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 2155, Government Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 2155.074 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 2155.074. STATE BUSINESS DAILY; NOTICE REGARDING
1-9 PROCUREMENTS EXCEEDING $25,000. (a) This section applies to each
1-10 state agency making a procurement that will exceed $25,000 in
1-11 value, without regard to the source of funds the agency will use
1-12 for the procurement, including a procurement that will exceed that
1-13 amount and that:
1-14 (1) is otherwise exempt from the commission's
1-15 purchasing authority or the application of this subtitle;
1-16 (2) is made under delegated purchasing authority;
1-17 (3) is related to a construction project; or
1-18 (4) is a procurement of professional or consulting
1-19 services.
1-20 (b) The commission each business day shall publish a
1-21 business daily in a printed format and in an electronic format.
1-22 The commission shall publish in the business daily information as
1-23 prescribed by this section about commission or other state agency
1-24 procurements that will exceed $25,000 in value. The commission
2-1 shall also publish in the business daily other information relating
2-2 to the business activity of the state that the commission considers
2-3 to be of interest to the public.
2-4 (c) The commission shall make the printed business daily
2-5 available for a subscription fee set in an amount that recovers the
2-6 cost of making the printed daily available.
2-7 (d) The commission shall make the electronic business daily
2-8 available through the information service operated by the Texas
2-9 Department of Commerce known as the Texas Marketplace, or a
2-10 suitable successor information service. The commission and the
2-11 department shall cooperate in making the electronic business daily
2-12 available.
2-13 (e) The fee charged for the printed business daily may not
2-14 include an amount designed to also recover the cost of preparing
2-15 and gathering the information that is published in the business
2-16 daily.
2-17 (f) The commission shall include at a minimum the following
2-18 information for each procurement that the commission or another
2-19 state agency will make that is estimated to exceed $25,000 in
2-20 value:
2-21 (1) a description of the goods or services to be
2-22 procured;
2-23 (2) the estimated cost of the procurement;
2-24 (3) the estimated quantity of goods or services to be
2-25 procured;
2-26 (4) if applicable, the previous price paid by the
2-27 commission or other state agency for the same or similar goods or
3-1 services;
3-2 (5) the estimated date on which the goods or services
3-3 to be procured will be needed; and
3-4 (6) the name, business mailing address, and business
3-5 telephone number of the commission employee or other state agency
3-6 employee a person can contact to obtain all necessary information
3-7 related to making a bid or proposal or other applicable expression
3-8 of interest for the procurement contract.
3-9 (g) The commission shall continue to publish the information
3-10 required under Subsection (f) in each issue of the business daily
3-11 for at least 30 calendar days and at least weekly after that period
3-12 until the commission or other state agency awards the procurement
3-13 contract or decides not to make the procurement.
3-14 (h) The commission or other state agency may not award the
3-15 procurement contract and shall continue to accept bids or proposals
3-16 or other applicable expressions of interest for the procurement
3-17 contract for at least 30 calendar days after the date that the
3-18 commission first published information about the procurement under
3-19 Subsection (f). The 30-calendar-day requirement of this subsection
3-20 and Subsection (g) does not apply in an emergency requiring the
3-21 commission or other state agency to make the procurement more
3-22 quickly to prevent a hazard to life, health, safety, welfare, or
3-23 property or to avoid undue additional cost to the state.
3-24 (i) Each state agency that will award a procurement contract
3-25 estimated to exceed $25,000 in value shall send to the commission:
3-26 (1) the information the commission requires for
3-27 publication in the state business daily under this section; and
4-1 (2) a notice when the procurement contract has been
4-2 awarded.
4-3 (j) The commission may adopt rules, prescribe forms, and
4-4 require information to administer this section. The commission
4-5 shall send any proposed rules to the governor, Legislative Budget
4-6 Board, comptroller, state auditor, and Texas Department of Commerce
4-7 for review and comment.
4-8 (k) The requirements of this section are in addition to the
4-9 requirements of other law relating to the solicitation of bids,
4-10 proposals, or expressions of interest for a procurement by the
4-11 commission or another state agency. This section does not affect
4-12 whether the commission or other state agency is required to award a
4-13 procurement contract through competitive bidding, competitive
4-14 sealed proposals, or another method.
4-15 SECTION 2. The 30-day requirement of Sections 2155.074(g)
4-16 and (h), Government Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a
4-17 procurement contract awarded on or after July 1, 1998.
4-18 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect June 1, 1998, except that
4-19 the General Services Commission may adopt rules, procedures, and
4-20 forms and make agreements necessary to administer this Act
4-21 beginning September 1, 1997.
4-22 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.