By Barrientos S.B. No. 1769
76R7934 JJT-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the performance of a private commercial contractor that
1-3 provides a service of a state agency.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2162.103, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 2162.103. COST COMPARISON AND CONTRACT CONSIDERATIONS.
1-8 (a) In comparing the cost of providing a service, the council
1-9 shall conduct and consider the conclusions of cost-benefit analyses
1-10 that compare the costs and benefits of [consider the]:
1-11 (1) [cost of] supervising the work of a private
1-12 contractor; [and]
1-13 (2) [cost of] a state agency's performance of the
1-14 service, including:
1-15 (A) services provided by [the costs of] the
1-16 comptroller, attorney general, and other support agencies; and
1-17 (B) other indirect expenses [costs] related to
1-18 the agency's performance of the service; and
1-19 (3) improving the state agency's performance by:
1-20 (A) the development and implementation of a most
1-21 efficient organization model;
1-22 (B) implementing recommendations of the
1-23 comptroller;
1-24 (C) implementing recommendations made by the
2-1 Sunset Advisory Commission; and
2-2 (D) implementing the recommendations of the
2-3 agency's governing body intended to improve the agency's provision
2-4 of a service the council identifies under Section 2162.102(a).
2-5 (b) The state agency may submit a proposal to the council
2-6 describing a reorganized service delivery method to compete
2-7 directly with the performance of a private commercial contractor.
2-8 (c) [(b)] A bid or contract must include an analysis of
2-9 health care benefits, retirement, and workers' compensation
2-10 insurance for a contractor's employees that are reasonably
2-11 comparable to the health care benefits, retirement, and workers'
2-12 compensation insurance of the state.
2-13 (d) Cost-benefit analyses used for an evaluation under
2-14 Subsection (a) must include a short-term analysis covering a period
2-15 of not more than six months and a long-term analysis covering a
2-16 period of at least one and not more than five years.
2-17 SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 2162, Government Code, is
2-18 amended by adding Section 2162.1035 to read as follows:
2-19 Sec. 2162.1035. AUDIT REQUIREMENTS AND CONTRACT CONDITIONS.
2-20 (a) A contract awarded to a private commercial contractor must
2-21 include a provision that the continuation of the contract for the
2-22 entire contract period is contingent on the outcome of audits
2-23 conducted under this section.
2-24 (b) A private commercial contractor to which a contract is
2-25 awarded under this subchapter must cooperate with a compliance
2-26 audit conducted by the state auditor. The state auditor shall
2-27 conduct the audit not later than the end of the sixth month after
3-1 the month the contract was awarded. In conducting the audit, the
3-2 state auditor shall:
3-3 (1) determine whether the contractor has met the
3-4 conditions of its contract and cooperated with the audit under this
3-5 section;
3-6 (2) assess whether the contractor has provided a level
3-7 of service delivery comparable to that provided by the state agency
3-8 that most recently provided the service before the service was
3-9 performed by a private commercial contractor; and
3-10 (3) assess whether the cost savings presented in the
3-11 contractor's contract bid are being realized by the contractor.
3-12 (c) If the state auditor concludes after the audit that the
3-13 private commercial contractor has performed satisfactorily, the
3-14 contractor may continue to perform under the contract until the
3-15 state auditor completes a second audit. The state auditor shall
3-16 conduct the second audit not before the end of the sixth month
3-17 after the completion of the first audit under this section and not
3-18 later than the 18th month after that audit is completed.
3-19 (d) If the state auditor concludes after the initial or
3-20 second audit conducted under this section that the contractor has
3-21 not performed satisfactorily, the contract with the private
3-22 commercial contractor terminates immediately and the state agency
3-23 that most recently provided the service before the service was
3-24 performed by a private commercial contractor shall provide the
3-25 service.
3-26 (e) If a service obligation is returned to the state agency
3-27 under Subsection (d):
4-1 (1) the state agency immediately shall complete a
4-2 performance evaluation to design a program to improve the delivery
4-3 of the service and implement the program designed; and
4-4 (2) until the end of the sixth month after the month
4-5 the contract terminated under Subsection (d), the council may not:
4-6 (A) require the service to be submitted to
4-7 competitive bidding; or
4-8 (B) make a determination regarding the service
4-9 under Section 2162.102(b).
4-10 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-11 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.