By Lucio                                               S.B. No. 690
         76R6392 BDH-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to preference to Texas and United States products in
 1-3     purchasing by state agencies, school districts, and certain charter
 1-4     schools.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 44, Education Code, is
 1-7     amended by adding Section 44.042 to read as follows:
 1-8           Sec. 44.042.  PREFERENCE TO TEXAS AND UNITED STATES PRODUCTS.
 1-9     (a)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school that
1-10     purchases goods, including agricultural products, shall give
1-11     preference to those produced or grown in this state if the cost to
1-12     the school district or school and the quality are equal.
1-13           (b)  If goods, including agricultural products, produced or
1-14     grown in this state are not equal in cost and quality to other
1-15     products, the school district or open-enrollment charter school
1-16     shall give preference to goods produced or grown in other states of
1-17     the United States over foreign products if the cost to the school
1-18     district or school and the quality are equal.
1-19           (c)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school that
1-20     purchases vegetation for landscaping purposes, including plants,
1-21     shall give preference to Texas vegetation native to the region if
1-22     the cost to the school district or school is not greater and the
1-23     quality is not inferior.
1-24           (d)  The comptroller shall conduct an analysis of purchases
 2-1     by school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to
 2-2     determine the effectiveness of this section and shall report the
 2-3     analysis to the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the
 2-4     house of representatives not later than December 31 of each
 2-5     even-numbered year.
 2-6           (e)  In this section, "agricultural products" includes
 2-7     textiles and other similar products.
 2-8           SECTION 2.  Section 2155.444, Government Code, is amended by
 2-9     adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
2-10           (e)  The comptroller shall conduct an analysis of purchases
2-11     by the commission and state agencies to determine the effectiveness
2-12     of this section and shall report the analysis to the governor,
2-13     lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
2-14     not later than December 31 of each even-numbered year.
2-15           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-16           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-17     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-18     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-19     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-20     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.