By Junell H.B. No. 2528
77R8537 MCK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to development and management of an electronic procurement
1-3 system for state and local government.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 2177, Government Code, is amended to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 Sec. 2177.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-8 (1) "Electronic procurement" means the purchase of
1-9 goods and services through an electronic network on the Internet.
1-10 The term includes:
1-11 (A) the process of negotiating contracts with
1-12 vendors on behalf of government purchasers in accordance with state
1-13 laws;
1-14 (B) the creation and maintenance on the network
1-15 of an itemized electronic catalogue of goods and services that are
1-16 available for purchase;
1-17 (C) the process of purchasing goods and services
1-18 on the network;
1-19 (D) the accounting and data processing
1-20 procedures required before, during, and after an electronic
1-21 purchase is made; and
1-22 (E) the verification of an electronic purchase
1-23 at time of delivery and the inventorying and subsequent
1-24 distribution of purchased items.
2-1 (2) "Department" means the Department of Information
2-2 Resources.
2-3 (3) "Local government" has the meaning assigned by
2-4 Section 271.081, Local Government Code.
2-5 (4) "State agency" means:
2-6 (A) a department, commission, board, office, or
2-7 other agency in the executive branch of state government created by
2-8 the state constitution or a state statute; or
2-9 (B) the supreme court, the court of criminal
2-10 appeals, a court of appeals, or the Texas Judicial Council.
2-11 Sec. 2177.002. INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION. An
2-12 institution of higher education, as defined by Chapter 61,
2-13 Education Code, may, at the option of the institution or the
2-14 governing board of the institution, participate in the electronic
2-15 procurement system established under this chapter.
2-16 Sec. 2177.003. ELECTRONIC PROCUREMENT MARKETPLACE. (a) The
2-17 department [commission] shall establish and manage the electronic
2-18 infrastructure of an electronic procurement marketplace. The
2-19 commission shall manage and administer the content of the
2-20 electronic procurement marketplace in accordance with this
2-21 subtitle. The electronic procurement marketplace must comply with
2-22 the requirements of Section 403.015 and the Internet site created
2-23 under Section 2054.062 or any subsequent statute. The department
2-24 or commission, as appropriate, may enter into contracts with
2-25 private or public entities to establish or maintain all or part of
2-26 the databases comprising the marketplace, to the extent feasible,
2-27 including contracts to procure hardware or software. The
3-1 department or commission, as appropriate, shall procure all goods
3-2 and services related to the marketplace through a competitive
3-3 selection process appropriate for the good or service being
3-4 acquired.
3-5 (b) The commission, in consultation with the department
3-6 [Department of Information Resources], shall define standards,
3-7 including keyword and product code standards, for the electronic
3-8 procurement marketplace. The marketplace may contain:
3-9 (1) information relevant to the state's standard
3-10 procurement specifications for goods and services;
3-11 (2) information about vendors, including information
3-12 from the centralized master bidders list and vendor performance
3-13 information;
3-14 (3) information about products, including product
3-15 testing results;
3-16 (4) historical purchasing information, qualified
3-17 purchase lists, and trends; and
3-18 (5) information about the availability of surplus
3-19 property.
3-20 (c) The department [commission] may adopt rules relating to
3-21 the design and use of the electronic procurement marketplace that
3-22 concern the technical requirements of the marketplace. The
3-23 commission may adopt rules relating to the use of the marketplace
3-24 for its intended purpose, including rules that require state
3-25 agencies to provide information for or receive information from the
3-26 marketplace. The department and the commission shall consult in
3-27 adopting rules under this section.
4-1 (d) The commission may make state procurement information
4-2 available to political subdivisions through the electronic
4-3 procurement marketplace on a fee-for-service basis. The commission
4-4 shall set the fees in an amount that recovers the state's costs in
4-5 providing the access to a political subdivision.
4-6 (e) Before developing a contract for the procurement of a
4-7 good or service, a state agency may use the electronic procurement
4-8 marketplace to determine the most appropriate method for acquiring
4-9 the good or service.
4-10 (f) The marketplace may contain:
4-11 (1) information relevant to the state's standard
4-12 procurement specifications for goods and services;
4-13 (2) information about vendors, including information
4-14 from the centralized master bidders list and vendor performance
4-15 information;
4-16 (3) information about products, including product
4-17 testing results; and
4-18 (4) historical purchasing information, qualified
4-19 purchase lists, and trends.
4-20 (g) The department or commission may require information
4-21 from a state agency for inclusion in the electronic procurement
4-22 marketplace.
4-23 Sec. 2177.004 [2177.002]. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE NETWORK. (a)
4-24 The department shall establish and the commission shall [establish
4-25 and] manage an electronic commerce network, to the extent feasible,
4-26 under which the state's purchasing transactions with vendors can be
4-27 accomplished electronically by means of facsimile transmissions and
5-1 on-line transmission of necessary information. The commission
5-2 shall comply with applicable rules of the department [Department of
5-3 Information Resources to the extent that they are based on the
5-4 standard data protocol developed by the American National Standards
5-5 Institute known as electronic data interchange or on other
5-6 efficient standards as determined by the commission].
5-7 (b) The department or commission, as appropriate, may enter
5-8 into contracts with one or more public or private entities to
5-9 establish or support various elements of the network. The
5-10 department or commission, as appropriate, shall procure all goods
5-11 and services related to the network through the competitive
5-12 selection process appropriate for the good or service being
5-13 acquired.
5-14 (c) The commission may provide for a gateway between the
5-15 electronic procurement marketplace and the electronic commerce
5-16 network so that the elements of a procurement transaction that are
5-17 within state government and the elements of a procurement
5-18 transaction that involve communication with a vendor may all be
5-19 accomplished electronically.
5-20 (d) Each state agency that is capable of participating in
5-21 the electronic commerce network must participate in the network and
5-22 participate in contracts entered into by the commission for the
5-23 establishment or support of the network. The commission shall
5-24 charge an agency a fee for network services provided to the agency
5-25 by the commission or by a contractor so that the cost of providing
5-26 network services to an agency is paid by the agency.
5-27 (e) The commission may allow political subdivisions and
6-1 other public entities that are members of the commission's
6-2 cooperative purchasing program to participate in the electronic
6-3 commerce network. The commission shall require that a
6-4 participating political subdivision or other entity is charged a
6-5 fee for the network services in the same manner that participating
6-6 state agencies are charged fees under Subsection (d).
6-7 (f) The commission may also charge private businesses a fee
6-8 for accessing the network.
6-9 (g) The department may adopt rules to administer this
6-10 section that concern the technical requirements of the network.
6-11 The commission may:
6-12 (1) adopt rules to administer this section relating to
6-13 the use of the network for its intended purpose; and
6-14 (2) require participating state agencies, political
6-15 subdivisions, and other public entities to designate a network
6-16 coordinator.
6-17 (h) The department and the commission shall consult in
6-18 adopting rules under this section.
6-19 (i) The requirements of this section and Section 2177.005
6-20 [2177.003] are in addition to the requirements of other law
6-21 relating to the solicitation of bids, proposals, or expressions of
6-22 interest for a procurement by the commission or another state
6-23 agency. This section and Section 2177.005 [2177.003] do not affect
6-24 any other law that requires the commission or another state agency
6-25 to award a procurement contract through competitive bidding,
6-26 competitive sealed proposals, or another method.
6-27 Sec. 2177.005 [2177.003]. PARTICIPATION BY STATE AGENCIES IN
7-1 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE NETWORK. (a) Each state agency shall and a
7-2 local government or participating institution of higher education
7-3 may send to the commission for posting on the electronic commerce
7-4 network information on each procurement contract the value of which
7-5 will exceed the amount of the agency's delegated purchasing
7-6 authority under Section 2155.132:
7-7 (1) without regard to the source of funds the agency
7-8 will use for the procurement; and
7-9 (2) including a procurement that is:
7-10 (A) a procurement by a state agency that is
7-11 otherwise exempt from the commission's purchasing authority;
7-12 (B) made under delegated purchasing authority
7-13 under Section 2155.131;
7-14 (C) related to a construction project; or
7-15 (D) a procurement of professional or consulting
7-16 services.
7-17 (b) The commission and each state agency, local government,
7-18 and participating institution of higher education shall include in
7-19 the information placed on the electronic commerce network, to the
7-20 extent it is feasible, the following information for each
7-21 procurement [that the commission will make or that another state
7-22 agency will make] under Subsection (a):
7-23 (1) a description of the goods or services to be
7-24 procured;
7-25 (2) the estimated quantity of the goods or services to
7-26 be procured;
7-27 (3) if applicable, the previous price paid by the
8-1 commission or another state agency for the same or similar goods or
8-2 services;
8-3 (4) the estimated date on which the goods or services
8-4 to be procured will be needed; [and]
8-5 (5) the name, business mailing address, and business
8-6 telephone number of the commission, [employee or other] state
8-7 agency, local government, or institution of higher education
8-8 employee a person can contact to obtain additional information; and
8-9 (6) all necessary information relating to making a bid
8-10 or proposal or other applicable expression of interest for the
8-11 procurement contract, including the terms and conditions of the
8-12 contract and opportunities available to a local government or a
8-13 participating institution of higher education for price discounts
8-14 on volume purchases under the terms of the contract.
8-15 (c) The commission shall also post on the electronic
8-16 commerce network other information relating to the business
8-17 activity of the state that the commission considers to be of
8-18 interest to the public. Each state agency shall provide the
8-19 commission with information the commission requires for purposes of
8-20 this subsection in a format prescribed by the commission.
8-21 (d) Each state agency that will award a contract that has
8-22 been placed on the electronic commerce network under Subsection (a)
8-23 shall place notification of the awarding of the contract on the
8-24 electronic commerce network.
8-25 SECTION 2. Section 2155.079, Government Code, is amended to
8-26 read as follows:
8-27 Sec. 2155.079. BUYING UNDER CONTRACT ESTABLISHED BY AGENCY
9-1 OTHER THAN COMMISSION. (a) The commission shall adopt rules
9-2 specifying the circumstances under which it is advantageous for the
9-3 state to allow a state agency to purchase goods or services under a
9-4 contract made by another state agency other than the commission, a
9-5 local government, a school district, or a participating institution
9-6 of higher education.
9-7 (b) If commission rules allow other agencies to make
9-8 purchases under a contract entered into by an agency using
9-9 delegated purchasing authority, the agency purchasing under
9-10 delegated authority may offer the goods or services available under
9-11 the contract to other agencies, local governments, school
9-12 districts, or participating institutions of higher education [only
9-13 if the agency first:]
9-14 [(1) establishes that the goods or services being
9-15 offered under its contract are not available under a contract
9-16 administered by the commission; and]
9-17 [(2) informs the commission of the terms of the
9-18 contract and the capabilities of the vendor].
9-19 SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 271, Local Government Code,
9-20 is amended by adding Section 271.084 to read as follows:
9-21 Sec. 271.084. BUYING UNDER CONTRACT OF STATE AGENCY OR OTHER
9-22 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. The General Services Commission shall adopt
9-23 rules specifying the circumstances under which it is advantageous
9-24 for the state to allow a local government to purchase goods or
9-25 services under a contract made by another local government or a
9-26 state agency other than the commission.
9-27 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
10-1 (b) The General Services Commission shall adopt the rules
10-2 required by Section 2155.079, Government Code, as amended by this
10-3 Act, and Section 271.084, Local Government Code, as added by this
10-4 Act, not later than January 1, 2002.