BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 579 |
By: Turner |
Appropriations |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
According to interested parties, there is currently no mechanism in place requiring a state agency to notify the legislature and certain state leaders if a contract has gone over budget. C.S.H.B. 579 seeks to require such notice by certain state agencies if the actual contract cost exceeds the amount of the contract by $1 million or more.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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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.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 579 amends the Government Code to require certain state agencies, for each state agency contract to purchase services from a vendor for which the actual cost of the services exceeds the amount contracted for the services by $1 million or more, to provide notice of the excessive cost to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, each member of the legislature, the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), and the state auditor's office in accordance with procedures established by the LBB. The bill requires the state agency to provide such notice not later than the 30th day after the date the actual cost exceeds the contract amount by $1 million and requires that such notice include the amount of the excessive cost, the reason for the excessive cost, any opportunity the state agency had to lessen the excessive cost or to purchase the services from another vendor after the excessive cost was disclosed, and any other information the LBB determines relevant.
C.S.H.B. 579 authorizes the LBB to assess an enforcement mechanism against a state agency that the LBB determines has failed to provide notice as required by the bill's provisions. The bill requires the enforcement mechanism to be assessed in accordance with a schedule of enforcement mechanisms that may be assessed against a state agency that does not provide notice and authorizes the LBB to establish such a schedule. The bill authorizes the enforcement mechanisms to include enhanced monitoring of the state agency's contracts by LBB personnel, required consultation with the Contract Advisory Team or the quality assurance team before issuance of a contract by the state agency, targeted audits by the state auditor's office at LBB request, and recommended cancellation of an applicable contract.
C.S.H.B. 579 authorizes the LBB director to recommend to the LBB an enforcement mechanism to be assessed against a state agency for a violation of the bill's requirement to provide notice and authorizes the LBB to increase the severity of an enforcement mechanism assessed against a state agency for repeated violations and to dismiss an enforcement mechanism assessed against a state agency by the LBB for a violation on successful implementation of corrective action approved by the LBB.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 579 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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