SRC-JEC S.B. 1225 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center S.B. 1225 By: Lindsay Intergovernmental Relations 3/23/2001 As Filed DIGEST AND PURPOSE Currently, counties expend money publishing notice of public bids in newspapers. As proposed, S.B. 1225 authorizes counties and school districts to publish notice of public bids on an Internet website rather than in the newspaper. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 271Z, Local Government Code, by adding Section 271.906, as follows: Sec. 271.906. ELECTRONIC NOTICE. (a) Authorizes a school district, in lieu of the notice required in Sections 44.031(g) (Purchasing Contracts) or 44.033(b) (Purchases of Personal Property Valued Between $10,000 and $25,000), Education Code, to publish the required notice for at least two weeks before the deadline for receiving bids, proposals, or responses to a request for qualifications on either: the district's website, provided there is a direct link from the district's home page, and on the state's website for posting local government procurement notices; or for an interlocal contract in accordance with Section 44.031(a)(5), the website of the district's administrative agency created under Chapter 791 (Interlocal Cooperation Contracts), Government Code, provided there is a direct link to the administrative agency website's publicly accessible postings from the district's home page. (b) Requires a school district that publishes notice under this section to clearly identify the link on its home page as the link to public notice of bids, proposals, or responses. (c) Authorizes a county, in lieu of the notice required in Sections 262.025(a), 263.007(b), 263.153, or 271.055, to publish the required notice for at least two weeks before the date of the bid opening, the date of the award of the sale or lease, the date of sale, or the date for public opening of the bids and the reading of the bids aloud, as applicable, on the county's website. Requires a county that publishes notice under this subsection to: have a direct link on the county's home page that clearly identify the link as the link to public notice of bids, sales, or leases; or have the notice accessible with the universal resource locator address of "http://www.co.[county-name].tx.us/notices/index.htm". SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2001.