By Bailey                                             H.B. No. 1527
         77R6061 MXM-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to allowing public bodies the authority to require wages
 1-3     higher than the prevailing wage rates for public works.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 2258.022(c), Government Code, is amended
 1-6     to read as follows:
 1-7           (c)  A public body shall specify in the call for bids for the
 1-8     contract and in the contract itself [the] wage rates equal to or
 1-9     greater than the rates determined under this section.
1-10           SECTION 2. Sections 2258.023(a) and (c), Government Code, are
1-11     amended to read as follows:
1-12           (a)  The contractor who is awarded a contract by a public
1-13     body or a subcontractor of the contractor shall pay not less than
1-14     the rates specified in the bid and in the contract, as provided
1-15     [determined] under Section 2258.022, to a worker employed by it in
1-16     the execution of the contract.
1-17           (c)  A contractor or subcontractor does not violate this
1-18     section if a public body awarding a contract does not [determine
1-19     the prevailing wage rates and] specify the rates in the contract as
1-20     provided by Section 2258.022.
1-21           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
1-22     applies only to a bid or contract that is made or entered into on
1-23     or after that date.  A bid or contract that is made or entered into
1-24     before September 1, 2001, is governed by the law as it existed
 2-1     immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
 2-2     continued in effect for that purpose.