By: Shapiro S.B. No. 1195
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to retainage on highway contracts.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Amend Section 223.010, Transportation Code, as
1-4 follows:
1-5 Sec. 223.010. Deposit and Investment of Retained Amount.
1-6 (a) Except as provided in subsection (h), five [Five] percent of
1-7 the contract price shall be retained until the entire improvement
1-8 has been completed and accepted.
1-9 (b) At the request of the contractor and with the approval
1-10 of the department and the comptroller, the amount retained may be
1-11 deposited under a trust agreement with a state or national bank
1-12 domiciled in this state and selected by the contractor.
1-13 (c) The department shall provide a trust agreement that
1-14 protects the interests of the state.
1-15 (d) The bank, acting as escrow agent and by instructions
1-16 from the contractor, may reinvest the retained amount in a
1-17 certificate of deposit issued by a state or national bank domiciled
1-18 in this state, bank time deposit, or other similar investment
1-19 prescribed by the trust agreement.
1-20 (e) Interest earned under the trust agreement shall be paid
1-21 to the contractor unless specified otherwise under the trust
1-22 agreement.
2-1 (f) The escrow agent is responsible for all investments and
2-2 amounts resulting from the deposits of the retained amount until
2-3 released from that responsibility under the trust agreement.
2-4 (g) The contractor shall pay all expenses incident to the
2-5 deposit and all charges made by the escrow agent for custody of the
2-6 securities and forwarding of interest on those securities. Those
2-7 expenses or charges may not apply to the contract or to the state.
2-8 (h) Four percent of the contract price shall be retained
2-9 until the entire improvement has been completed and accepted on any
2-10 contract that includes the use of recycled materials.
2-11 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-12 SECTION 3. EMERGENCY CLAUSE. The importance of this
2-13 legislation and the crowded condition of the calendars in both
2-14 houses create an emergency and an imperative public necessity that
2-15 the 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.