By: Phillips H.B. No. 2137
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the construction or improvement of buildings by the
Texas Department of Transportation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 201.1055, Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 201.1055. AGREEMENTS WITH PRIVATE ENTITIES. (a)
Notwithstanding any other law, including Subchapter A, Chapter
2254, Government Code, Chapters 2165, 2166, and 2167, Government
Code, and Sections 202.052, 202.053, 203.051, 203.052, and 223.001
of this code, the department and a private entity that offers the
best value to the state may enter into an agreement that includes:
(1) site development and the [both] design and
construction of a building and related facility that supports
department operations on:
(A) department-owned real property; or
(B) real property owned by the private entity
[district office headquarters facility located in a county with a
population of 3.3 million or more];
(2) a lease of department-owned real property [in a
district that includes a county with a population of 3.3 million or
more] to the private entity;
(3) a provision authorizing the private entity to
construct and retain ownership of a building or related facility on
property owned by the entity or leased to the entity under
Subdivision (2); [and]
(4) a provision under which the department agrees to
enter into an agreement to acquire or lease with an option or
options to purchase real property described in Subdivision (1) that
is owned by the private entity, and a building and related facility
constructed on the property or on property leased to the entity
under Subdivision (2); and
(5) a provision under which the department agrees to
enter into an agreement to exchange department-owned real property
as whole or partial consideration for a building and related
facility described in Subdivision (1).
(b) Notwithstanding Section 202.024, the commission may
authorize the executive director to execute a deed exchanging
department-owned real property under Subsection (a)(5).
(c) Prior to signing an agreement under this section to
lease with an option or options to purchase, the Texas
Transportation Commission shall determine whether bond financing
or lease with an option or options to purchase is the most
cost-effective alternative for the acquisition of the building or
related facility.
(d) A lease agreement under this section shall provide for
the lease payments to apply to the purchase price of the building or
related facility and shall contain the agreed price to purchase the
building or related facility if the department exercises that
option.
(e) Prior to signing an agreement under this section to
exchange department-owned property with a private entity for a
building or related facility described in Subsection (a)(1), the
commission shall determine whether the value of the building or
related facility owned by the private entity is equal to or greater
than the value of the department-owned property.
SECTION 2. Section 221.001(1), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(1) "Highway" includes a public road or part of a
public road and a bridge, culvert, building, or other necessary
structure related to a public road.
SECTION 3. Section 2166.302, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (b) and
(c), the commission shall adopt uniform general conditions to be
incorporated into all building construction contracts made by the
state, including a contract for a project excluded from this
chapter by Section 2166.003, but not including a contract for a
project excluded from this chapter by Section 2166.004.
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a project constructed
by and for the Texas Department of Transportation.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
2166.302, Government Code, apply only to a contract for which the
Texas Department of Transportation first advertises or otherwise
solicits bids, proposals, offers, or qualifications on or after the
effective date of this Act. A contract for which the Texas
Department of Transportation first advertised or otherwise
solicited bids, proposals, offers, or qualifications before that
date is governed by the law in effect when the first advertisement
or solicitation was given, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.