Amend CSHB 18 (house committee report) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTION to Article 1 of the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of that article as appropriate:
SECTION ____. (a) Subchapter B, Chapter 2155, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 2155.091 to read as follows:
Sec. 2155.091. OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT OF STATE COOPERATIVE PURCHASING PROGRAMS. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Department of Information Resources, the comptroller, and the five state agencies with the largest budgets on September 1, 2017, shall jointly acquire from a single provider and implement a cloud-based, procure-to-pay project to operate and manage the state's cooperative purchasing programs, including the multiple award contract schedule under Subchapter I and commodity items under Section 2157.068.
(b) The project must:
(1) include procurement technology that:
(A) covers sourcing, contract management, contract ordering, and invoice processing;
(B) makes solicitations, contracts, proposals, and payments viewable by the public; and
(C) supports the collection of transactions fees from vendors;
(2) include consulting and marketing services;
(3) include authority to charge a vendor who participates in the project a one percent transaction fee to cover the costs of the project; and
(4) notwithstanding any other law, allow political subdivisions and non-profit organizations to make purchases through the project.
(c) The division of the governor's office having responsibility for budget and policy shall oversee the project.
(b) The Department of Information Resources, the comptroller of public accounts, and the five state agencies with the largest budgets on September 1, 2017, shall enter into a contract for a project to operate and manage state cooperative purchasing programs as provided by Section 2155.091, Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than October 31, 2017, and the project under that section shall be implemented not later than December 31, 2018.