76R11906 WP-D                           
         By Hodge                                              H.B. No. 3543
         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3543:
         By Edwards                                        C.S.H.B. No. 3543
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to competitive bidding by certain mass transit
 1-3     authorities.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 452.107(c), Transportation Code, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (c)  The executive committee may authorize the negotiation of
 1-8     a contract without competitive sealed bids or proposals if:
 1-9                 (1)  the aggregate amount involved in the contract is
1-10     $25,000 [$15,000] or less;
1-11                 (2)  the contract is for construction for which not
1-12     more than one bid or proposal is received;
1-13                 (3)  the contract is for services or property for which
1-14     there is only one source or for which it is otherwise impracticable
1-15     to obtain competition;
1-16                 (4)  the contract is to respond to an emergency for
1-17     which the public exigency does not permit the delay incident to the
1-18     competitive process;
1-19                 (5)  the contract is for personal or professional
1-20     services or services for which competitive bidding is precluded by
1-21     law; or
1-22                 (6)  the contract, without regard to form and which may
1-23     include bonds, notes, loan agreements, or other obligations, is for
1-24     the purpose of borrowing money or is a part of a transaction
 2-1     relating to the borrowing of money, including:
 2-2                       (A)  a credit support agreement, such as a line
 2-3     or letter of credit or other debt guaranty;
 2-4                       (B)  a bond, note, debt sale or purchase,
 2-5     trustee, paying agent, remarketing agent, indexing agent, or
 2-6     similar agreement;
 2-7                       (C)  an agreement with a securities dealer,
 2-8     broker, or underwriter; and
 2-9                       (D)  any other contract or agreement considered
2-10     by the executive committee to be appropriate or necessary in
2-11     support of the authority's financing activities.
2-12           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-13     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-14     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-15     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-16     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-17     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-18     passage, and it is so enacted.