79(R) HB 2137 - Senate Committee Report version


                                                                                


By:  Phillips (Senate Sponsor - Staples)                          H.B. No. 2137
	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2005; 
April 29, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on 
Transportation and Homeland Security; May 20, 2005, reported 
adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following 
vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 20, 2005, sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2137                                   By:  Staples


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 for the [that 
includes:
		[(1)  both] design and construction, including site 
development, of a district office headquarters facility or other 
facilities required to support department operations located on 
real property owned or leased by the department [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 on property leased to 
the entity under Subdivision (2); and
		[(4)  a provision under which the department agrees to 
enter into an agreement to lease with an option or options to 
purchase a building constructed on property leased to the entity 
under Subdivision (2)].
	(b)  A project described by this section must be financed in 
accordance with Section 1232.111, Government Code.
	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.  Subchapter C, Chapter 1232, Government Code, is 
amended by adding Section 1232.111 to read as follows:
	Sec. 1232.111.  CERTAIN PROJECTS BY TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF 
TRANSPORTATION.  (a)  The authority may issue and sell obligations 
to finance one or more projects described by Section 201.1055(a), 
Transportation Code.  Notwithstanding Section 1232.108(2), the 
estimated cost of the project must be specified in the General 
Appropriations Act or other law, except that the estimated cost of 
the district office headquarters facility located in Harris County 
is $40 million.
	(b)  Any provision of this chapter that relates to the 
issuance or sale of obligations to finance the acquisition or 
construction of a building, including provisions relating to form, 
procedure, repayment, actions that may be taken to ensure that the 
payment of the principal of and interest on the obligations is 
continued without interruption, and other relevant matters, 
applies to the issuance or sale of obligations under this section to 
the extent that the provision may be appropriately made applicable.
	(c)  The legislature may appropriate money from any 
available source, including the state highway fund, to the Texas 
Department of Transportation to make lease payments to the 
authority for space occupied by the department in a building 
constructed under Section 201.1055(a), Transportation Code.
	SECTION 5.  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 6.  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.



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