79R2803 MCK-F

By:  Van de Putte                                                 S.B. No. 581



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to Texas Building and Procurement Commission requirements 
for certain purchases by the Veterans' Land Board.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 2155, Government Code, is 
amended by adding Section 2155.149 to read as follows:
	Sec. 2155.149.  CERTAIN PURCHASES BY VETERANS' LAND BOARD.  
(a)  The Veterans' Land Board is delegated all purchasing functions 
relating to veterans homes and veterans cemeteries.
	(b)  The Veterans' Land Board shall acquire goods and 
services by any procurement method that provides the best value to 
the Veterans' Land Board.  The Veterans' Land Board shall consider 
the best value standards listed in Section 2155.074.
	(c)  The commission shall procure goods and services for the 
Veterans' Land Board at the request of the Veterans' Land Board, and 
the Veterans' Land Board may use the services of the commission in 
procuring goods and services.
	SECTION 2.  Section 2166.003(a), Government Code, is amended 
to read as follows:
	(a)  Unless otherwise provided, this chapter does not apply 
to:              
		(1)  a project constructed by and for the Texas 
Department of Transportation;
		(2)  a project constructed by and for a state 
institution of higher education;
		(3)  a pen, shed, or ancillary building constructed by 
and for the Department of Agriculture for the processing of 
livestock before export;
		(4)  a project constructed by the Parks and Wildlife 
Department;            
		(5)  a repair or rehabilitation project, except a major 
renovation, of buildings and grounds on the commission inventory;
		(6)  a repair and rehabilitation project of another 
using agency, if all labor for the project is provided by the 
regular maintenance force of the using agency under specific 
legislative authorization and the project does not require the 
advance preparation of working plans or drawings;
		(7)  a repair and rehabilitation project involving the 
use of contract labor, if the project has been excluded from this 
chapter by commission rule and does not require the advance 
preparation of working plans or drawings;
		(8)  an action taken by the Texas Natural Resource 
Conservation Commission under Subchapter F or I, Chapter 361, 
Health and Safety Code;  [or]
		(9)  a repair, rehabilitation, or construction project 
on property owned by the Texas Department of Housing and Community 
Affairs or the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation; or
		(10)  a project constructed by and for the Veterans' 
Land Board.     
	SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to 
a contract or project for which the Veterans' Land Board first 
advertises or otherwise solicits bids, proposals, offers, or 
qualifications on or after the effective date of this Act.  A 
contract or project for which the Veterans' Land Board, or a state 
agency acting on behalf of the Veterans' Land Board, first 
advertised or otherwise solicited bids, 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 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.