By:  Truan, Lucio                                      S.B. No. 350
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to wage rates paid by or on behalf of certain school
 1-3     districts on public works projects.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 44, Education Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 44.043 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 44.043.  AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE LIVING WAGE RATE.
 1-8     (a)  This section applies only if:
 1-9                 (1)  the school district is located primarily in a
1-10     county any part of which is located within 50 miles of an
1-11     international border; and
1-12                 (2)  the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for
1-13     work of a similar character in the locality in which the work is
1-14     performed, as determined in accordance with Section 2258.022,
1-15     Government Code, is less than the rate of per diem wages that would
1-16     amount to annual compensation equal to the federal poverty level
1-17     for a family of four based on the federal Office of Management and
1-18     Budget poverty index.
1-19           (b)  A school district may require that a worker employed on
1-20     a public work by or on behalf of the district be paid not less
1-21     than:
1-22                 (1)  for work other than legal holiday or overtime
1-23     work, the rate of per diem wages that would amount to annual
1-24     compensation equal to the federal poverty level for a family of
1-25     four based on the federal Office of Management and Budget poverty
 2-1     index; and
 2-2                 (2)  for legal holiday or overtime work, the greater
 2-3     of:
 2-4                       (A)  the rate described by Subdivision (1); or
 2-5                       (B)  the general prevailing rate of per diem
 2-6     wages for that work, as determined in accordance with Section
 2-7     2258.022, Government Code.
 2-8           (c)  Subsection (b) does not apply to maintenance work.
 2-9           (d)  A worker is employed on a public work for the purposes
2-10     of this section if the worker is employed by a contractor or
2-11     subcontractor in the execution of a contract for the public work
2-12     with the school district or any officer or public body of the
2-13     school district.
2-14           (e)  The school district shall determine the rate of per diem
2-15     wages described by Subsection (b)(1) as a sum certain, expressed in
2-16     dollars and cents.
2-17           (f)  The school district shall specify in the call for bids
2-18     for the contract and in the contract itself the wage rates required
2-19     by the district under this section.
2-20           (g)  A contractor who is awarded a contract by a school
2-21     district that requires a wage rate under this section or a
2-22     subcontractor of the contractor shall pay to a worker employed by
2-23     the contractor or subcontractor in the execution of the contract
2-24     not less than the wage rate required by the district.
2-25           (h)  A school district that requires a wage rate under this
2-26     section may provide in a contract for a public work that a
 3-1     contractor or subcontractor who does not comply with the required
 3-2     wage rate is liable to the school district for a penalty in an
 3-3     amount specified in the contract.  The penalty may not exceed the
 3-4     amount of $60 for each worker employed for each calendar day or
 3-5     part of the day that the worker is paid less than the required wage
 3-6     rate.
 3-7           (i)  A contractor or subcontractor does not violate this
 3-8     section if the school district does not specify the required wage
 3-9     rate in the contract as provided by Subsection (f).
3-10           SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to wage rates paid under a
3-11     contract entered into on or after September 1, 2001.  Wage rates
3-12     paid under a contract entered into before September 1, 2001, are
3-13     governed by the law in effect at the time the contract was entered
3-14     into, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-15           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.