H.B. 3561 78 ) BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 3561 By: Bonnen County Affairs Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Angleton-Danbury Hospital District has requested the same flexibility in public works projects as municipalities, counties, and water districts under the Local Government Code and school districts under the Education Code, whereby modern and cost-effective procurement procedures such as competitive proposals and design-build contracts are available as alternatives to basic, traditional competitive bidding. In this way the governmental entity may use whichever method will provide the best value. The highly specialized and uniquely demanding nature of hospital facility design and construction seems particularly well-suited to the design-build method of procurement, which has emerged in the healthcare industry as the preferred method in terms of both quality and cost efficiency. As a generic political subdivision of Texas, Angleton-Danbury Hospital District is presently restricted from using anything but strict competitive bidding and cannot allow the project designer to be the builder, no matter how high-tech or specialized the project may be. Non-governmental hospitals have no such restrictions upon their own improvement projects. Angleton-Danbury Hospital District would greatly benefit from the flexible alternatives provided by Subchapter H of the Local Government Code. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS SECTION 1 amends the enabling legislation of Angleton-Danbury Hospital District by adding Section 12C relating to public works projects. This section provides that the district has all the powers and duties under Subchapter H of the Local Government Code relating to facility construction. SECTION 2 states that this Act is effective immediately with a vote of two-thirds of all members of each house or September 1, 2003. EFFECTIVE DATE Immediately if this Act receives a vote of two-thirds of all members of each house or September 1, 2003.