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BILL ANALYSIS |
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By: West |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
A few years ago, the legislature added a rider to the Appropriations Act to add $20 to the fee to be used for the Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program. The 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, omitted the rider because the Legislative Budget Board, in consultation with the Comptroller of Public Accounts, thought that the fee was included in the Government Code. The Centralized Master Bidders List (CMBL) fee is in the Government Code, but the $20 fee is not.
S.B. 2381 adds a $20 compliance fee for registrants in the HUB program to the 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
S.B. 2381 amends Section 2155.202, Government Code, to authorize the comptroller of public accounts (comptroller), rather than the Texas Facilities Commission (commission), to charge a person applying for registration on the master bidders list a registration fee. S.B. 2381 authorizes the comptroller to charge a registrant a biennial renewal fee in an amount designed to recover the comptroller's, rather than the commission's, costs. S.B. 2381 makes a nonsubstantive change.
S.B. 2381 requires the comptroller, in addition to the fee above, to also collect $20 from each registrant to be used for the purpose of enforcing compliance with requirements of state purchasing statutes and the prevention of fraud in the Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program as set forth in Chapter 2161.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage or September 1, 2009.