76R11929 JSA-F                           
         By Jones of Lubbock                                   H.B. No. 2960
         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2960:
         By West                                           C.S.H.B. No. 2960
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the evaluation of proposals for contracts by
 1-3     institutions of higher education for energy conservation measures.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 51.927(h), Education Code, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (h)  A contract under this section may be let under
 1-8     competitive sealed proposal procedures.  Notice of the request for
 1-9     proposals shall be given in the manner provided for in Chapter
1-10     2156, Government Code.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
1-11     Board, in consultation with the State Energy Conservation Office
1-12     and the Texas Energy Coordination Council with regard to energy
1-13     conservation measures, shall establish guidelines and an approval
1-14     process for contracts awarded under this section.  The guidelines
1-15     must require that the cost savings projected by an offeror be
1-16     reviewed by a licensed professional engineer who is not an officer
1-17     or employee of an offeror for the contract under review or
1-18     otherwise associated with the contract.  A contract is not required
1-19     to be reviewed or approved by the State Energy Conservation Office
1-20     or Texas Energy Coordination Council.  [The State Energy
1-21     Conservation Office and the Texas Energy Coordination Council shall
1-22     review the selected proposal before a contract is awarded.  The
1-23     State Energy Conservation Office may provide a cost-benefit
1-24     analysis of the proposals and analysis of the guaranteed savings
 2-1     projected by offerors and may charge a fee for this service.]  The
 2-2     contract shall be awarded to the responsible offeror whose
 2-3     proposal, following negotiations, is determined by the institution
 2-4     to be the most advantageous to the institution considering the
 2-5     guaranteed savings and other evaluation factors set forth in the
 2-6     request for proposals, except that if the institution finds that no
 2-7     offer is acceptable, it shall refuse all offers.
 2-8           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-9           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-10     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-11     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-12     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-13     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.