1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to competitive bidding by mass transit authorities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 451.110(c), Transportation Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a contract for:
1-7 (1) $25,000 or less [by an authority created before
1-8 1980 in which the principal municipality has a population of less
1-9 than 1.2 million;]
1-10 [(2) $15,000 or less by an authority not described by
1-11 Subdivision (1)];
1-12 (2) [(3)] the purchase of real property;
1-13 (3) [(4)] personal or professional services; or
1-14 (4) [(5)] the acquisition of an existing transit
1-15 system.
1-16 SECTION 2. Section 451.111(a), Transportation Code, is
1-17 amended to read as follows:
1-18 (a) Unless the posting requirement in Subsection (b) is
1-19 satisfied, a board may not let a contract that is:
1-20 (1) for more than[:]
1-21 [(A)] $25,000 [by an authority created before
1-22 1980 in which the principal municipality has a population of less
1-23 than 1.2 million; or]
1-24 [(B) $15,000 by an authority not described by
2-1 Paragraph (A)]; and
2-2 (2) for:
2-3 (A) the purchase of real property; or
2-4 (B) consulting or professional services.
2-5 SECTION 3. Section 452.107(c), Transportation Code, is
2-6 amended to read as follows:
2-7 (c) The executive committee may authorize the negotiation of
2-8 a contract without competitive sealed bids or proposals if:
2-9 (1) the aggregate amount involved in the contract is
2-10 $25,000 [$15,000] or less;
2-11 (2) the contract is for construction for which not
2-12 more than one bid or proposal is received;
2-13 (3) the contract is for services or property for which
2-14 there is only one source or for which it is otherwise impracticable
2-15 to obtain competition;
2-16 (4) the contract is to respond to an emergency for
2-17 which the public exigency does not permit the delay incident to the
2-18 competitive process;
2-19 (5) the contract is for personal or professional
2-20 services or services for which competitive bidding is precluded by
2-21 law; or
2-22 (6) the contract, without regard to form and which may
2-23 include bonds, notes, loan agreements, or other obligations, is for
2-24 the purpose of borrowing money or is a part of a transaction
2-25 relating to the borrowing of money, including:
2-26 (A) a credit support agreement, such as a line
2-27 or letter of credit or other debt guaranty;
3-1 (B) a bond, note, debt sale or purchase,
3-2 trustee, paying agent, remarketing agent, indexing agent, or
3-3 similar agreement;
3-4 (C) an agreement with a securities dealer,
3-5 broker, or underwriter; and
3-6 (D) any other contract or agreement considered
3-7 by the executive committee to be appropriate or necessary in
3-8 support of the authority's financing activities.
3-9 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-14 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-15 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3543 was passed by the House on April
30, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 3543 on May 27, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0,
2 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3543 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor