By:  Ratliff                                                      S.B. No. 733


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the purchase by certain local governments of an item 
from a local vendor.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 271, Local Government 
Code, is amended by adding Section 271.907 to read as follows:
	Sec. 271.907.  PURCHASE FROM LOCAL VENDOR.  (a)  This 
section applies only to a local government, as defined by Section 
271.081, that is located in a county with a population of 50,000 or 
less.
	(b)  In this section, "local vendor" means a vendor who has a 
place of business located in:
		(1)  a county in which any part of the local government 
that seeks to purchase an item under this section is located; or
		(2)  a county contiguous to a county described by 
Subdivision (1).   
	(c)  A local government may purchase an item from a local 
vendor without following a competitive purchasing procedure if that 
vendor's price is equal to or less than the price at which the local 
government could purchase the item under a government purchasing 
program of this state such as those described by Subchapter D, F, or 
G or by Section 2155.504, Government Code.
	(d)  A purchase under this section satisfies any law 
requiring the local government to purchase an item under a 
competitive purchasing procedure.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.