| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the authorization for a county to establish a wage |
|
|
higher than the state minimum wage for competitive procurement |
|
|
requirements in a specific contract. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 262.030, Local Government Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 262.030. ALTERNATIVE COMPETITIVE PROPOSAL PROCEDURE |
|
|
FOR CERTAIN GOODS AND SERVICES. (a) Except for Subsection (d) and |
|
|
(f) of this section, the competitive proposal procedure provided by |
|
|
this section may be used for the purchase of insurance, high |
|
|
technology items, and the following special services: |
|
|
(1) landscape maintenance; |
|
|
(2) travel management; or |
|
|
(3) recycling. |
|
|
(b) Quotations must be solicited through a request for |
|
|
proposals. Public notice for the request for proposals must be made |
|
|
in the same manner as provided in the competitive bidding |
|
|
procedure. The request for proposals must specify the relative |
|
|
importance of price and other evaluation factors. The award of the |
|
|
contract shall be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is |
|
|
determined to be the lowest and best evaluated offer resulting from |
|
|
negotiation, taking into consideration the relative importance of |
|
|
price and other evaluation factors set forth in the request for |
|
|
proposals. |
|
|
(c) If provided in the request for proposals, proposals |
|
|
shall be opened so as to avoid disclosure of contents to competing |
|
|
offerors and kept secret during the process of negotiation. All |
|
|
proposals that have been submitted shall be available and open for |
|
|
public inspection after the contract is awarded, except for trade |
|
|
secrets and confidential information contained in the proposals and |
|
|
identified as such. |
|
|
(d) A county in which a purchasing agent has been appointed |
|
|
under Section 262.011 or employed under Section 262.0115 may use |
|
|
the competitive proposal purchasing method authorized by this |
|
|
section for the purchase of insurance or high technology items. In |
|
|
addition, the method may be used to purchase other items when the |
|
|
county official who makes purchases for the county determines, with |
|
|
the consent of the commissioners court, that it is in the best |
|
|
interest of the county to make a request for proposals. |
|
|
(e) As provided in the request for proposals and under rules |
|
|
adopted by the commissioners court, discussions may be conducted |
|
|
with responsible offerors who submit proposals determined to be |
|
|
reasonably susceptible of being selected for award. Offerors must |
|
|
be accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to any |
|
|
opportunity for discussion and revision of proposals, and revisions |
|
|
may be permitted after submission and before award for the purpose |
|
|
of obtaining best and final offers. |
|
|
(f) The commissioners court of a county with a population of |
|
|
2.2 million or more but less than 3.3 million may include wages paid |
|
|
by an employer to each employee for services performed in the county |
|
|
as a condition of a contract or agreement entered into between the |
|
|
government entity and a private entity. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 62.0515, Labor Code, is amended to read |
|
|
as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 62.0515. APPLICATION OF MINIMUM WAGE TO CERTAIN |
|
|
GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES; CERTAIN AGREEMENTS WITH GOVERNMENTAL |
|
|
ENTITIES. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the |
|
|
minimum wage provided by this chapter supersedes a wage established |
|
|
in an ordinance, order, or charter provision governing wages in |
|
|
private employment, other than wages under a public contract. |
|
|
(b) This section does not apply to any state or federal job |
|
|
training or workforce development program. |
|
|
(c) This section does not apply to a minimum wage |
|
|
established by a governmental entity that applies to a contract or |
|
|
agreement, including a non-annexation agreement, entered into by a |
|
|
governmental entity and a private entity. A private entity that |
|
|
enters into a contract or agreement, including a non-annexation |
|
|
agreement, with a governmental entity, under the terms of which the |
|
|
private entity agrees to comply with a minimum wage that is greater |
|
|
than the minimum wage established by Section 62.051 [established by
|
|
|
the governmental entity], is subject to the terms of that contract |
|
|
or agreement, and those terms apply to and may be enforced against a |
|
|
general contractor, subcontractor, developer, and other person |
|
|
with which the private entity contracts in order to comply with the |
|
|
provisions of the original contract or agreement. |
|
|
(1) A county with a population of 2.2 million or more |
|
|
but less than 3.3 million and any district or authority created |
|
|
under Article XVI, Section 59, of the Texas Constitution of which |
|
|
the governing body is the commissioners court, may require a wage |
|
|
higher than the state minimum wage, to be paid by an employer to |
|
|
each employee for services performed in the county as part of a |
|
|
contract or agreement entered into between the government entity |
|
|
and a private entity as authorized under Section 262.030 of the |
|
|
Texas Local Government Code. |
|
|
(d) For purposes of this section, "governmental entity" |
|
|
includes a municipality, a county, a special district or authority, |
|
|
a junior college district, or another political subdivision of this |
|
|
state. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |