1-1     By:  Jones of Lubbock (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister)   H.B. No. 2960
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 1999;
 1-3     May 6, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
 1-4     Resources; May 12, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 12, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the evaluation of proposals for contracts by
 1-9     institutions of higher education for energy conservation measures.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 51.927(h), Education Code, is amended to
1-12     read as follows:
1-13           (h)  A contract under this section may be let under
1-14     competitive sealed proposal procedures.  Notice of the request for
1-15     proposals shall be given in the manner provided for in Chapter
1-16     2156, Government Code.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
1-17     Board, in consultation with the State Energy Conservation Office
1-18     and the Texas Energy Coordination Council with regard to energy
1-19     conservation measures, shall establish guidelines and an approval
1-20     process for contracts awarded under this section.  The guidelines
1-21     must require that the cost savings projected by an offeror be
1-22     reviewed by a licensed professional engineer who is not an officer
1-23     or employee of an offeror for the contract under review or
1-24     otherwise associated with the contract.  A contract is not required
1-25     to be reviewed or approved by the State Energy Conservation Office
1-26     or Texas Energy Coordination Council.  [The State Energy
1-27     Conservation Office and the Texas Energy Coordination Council shall
1-28     review the selected proposal before a contract is awarded.  The
1-29     State Energy Conservation Office may provide a cost-benefit
1-30     analysis of the proposals and analysis of the guaranteed savings
1-31     projected by offerors and may charge a fee for this service.]  The
1-32     contract shall be awarded to the responsible offeror whose
1-33     proposal, following negotiations, is determined by the institution
1-34     to be the most advantageous to the institution considering the
1-35     guaranteed savings and other evaluation factors set forth in the
1-36     request for proposals, except that if the institution finds that no
1-37     offer is acceptable, it shall refuse all offers.
1-38           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-39           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-40     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-41     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-42     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-43     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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