1-1 By: Hodge (Senate Sponsor - Cain) H.B. No. 3543
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 3, 1999;
1-3 May 3, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Intergovernmental Relations; May 14, 1999, reported adversely, with
1-5 favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays
1-6 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3543 By: Ellis
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to competitive bidding by mass transit authorities.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 451.110(c), Transportation Code, is
1-13 amended to read as follows:
1-14 (c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a contract for:
1-15 (1) $25,000 or less [by an authority created before
1-16 1980 in which the principal municipality has a population of less
1-17 than 1.2 million;]
1-18 [(2) $15,000 or less by an authority not described by
1-19 Subdivision (1)];
1-20 (2) [(3)] the purchase of real property;
1-21 (3) [(4)] personal or professional services; or
1-22 (4) [(5)] the acquisition of an existing transit
1-23 system.
1-24 SECTION 2. Section 451.111(a), Transportation Code, is
1-25 amended to read as follows:
1-26 (a) Unless the posting requirement in Subsection (b) is
1-27 satisfied, a board may not let a contract that is:
1-28 (1) for more than[:]
1-29 [(A)] $25,000 [by an authority created before
1-30 1980 in which the principal municipality has a population of less
1-31 than 1.2 million; or]
1-32 [(B) $15,000 by an authority not described by
1-33 Paragraph (A)]; and
1-34 (2) for:
1-35 (A) the purchase of real property; or
1-36 (B) consulting or professional services.
1-37 SECTION 3. Section 452.107(c), Transportation Code, is
1-38 amended to read as follows:
1-39 (c) The executive committee may authorize the negotiation of
1-40 a contract without competitive sealed bids or proposals if:
1-41 (1) the aggregate amount involved in the contract is
1-42 $25,000 [$15,000] or less;
1-43 (2) the contract is for construction for which not
1-44 more than one bid or proposal is received;
1-45 (3) the contract is for services or property for which
1-46 there is only one source or for which it is otherwise impracticable
1-47 to obtain competition;
1-48 (4) the contract is to respond to an emergency for
1-49 which the public exigency does not permit the delay incident to the
1-50 competitive process;
1-51 (5) the contract is for personal or professional
1-52 services or services for which competitive bidding is precluded by
1-53 law; or
1-54 (6) the contract, without regard to form and which may
1-55 include bonds, notes, loan agreements, or other obligations, is for
1-56 the purpose of borrowing money or is a part of a transaction
1-57 relating to the borrowing of money, including:
1-58 (A) a credit support agreement, such as a line
1-59 or letter of credit or other debt guaranty;
1-60 (B) a bond, note, debt sale or purchase,
1-61 trustee, paying agent, remarketing agent, indexing agent, or
1-62 similar agreement;
1-63 (C) an agreement with a securities dealer,
1-64 broker, or underwriter; and
2-1 (D) any other contract or agreement considered
2-2 by the executive committee to be appropriate or necessary in
2-3 support of the authority's financing activities.
2-4 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-10 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-11 * * * * *