Amend HB 3658 (house committee report) as follows:
(1) On page 6, strike lines 5 through 10, and substitute the following:
(j-5) The contract management handbook published under Subsection (j) must include:
(1) instructions for ensuring that:
(A) health and human services agency employees who are involved in implementing a specific procurement are also involved in evaluating and scoring the responses submitted to the solicitation for the procurement;
(B) appropriate health and human services agency employees answer questions from vendors in a timely manner; and
(C) vendors that participate or are interested in participating in a procurement by an agency have access to at least two agency employees who serve as contacts for the agency;
(2) a model communications procedure for vendors and agency employees, developed in collaboration with representatives from vendors and state agencies, to be included in the agency's solicitations;
(3) procedures for:
(A) notifying other responsive vendors if an agency employee or another vendor violates the communications requirements for a solicitation; and
(B) determining when an agency employee or vendor has failed to comply with the communication provisions of a solicitation; and
(C) ensuring an appropriate number of interested vendors are granted access to a pre-bid, pre-offer, or pre-proposal conference.
(3) On page 7, line 1, immediately following the underlined semicolon, strike "and".
(4) On page 7, strike lines 2 through 5, and substitute the following:
(5) ensure that:
(A) appropriate state agency employees answer questions from vendors in a timely manner; and
(B) vendors that participate or are interested in participating in a procurement by a state agency have access to at least two agency employees who serve as contacts for the agency;
(6) develop a communications procedure for vendors and agency employees to be included in the agency's solicitations; and
(7) establish procedures for:
(A) notifying other responsive vendors if an agency employee or another vendor violates the communication requirements for the solicitation;
(B) determining when an agency employee or vendor has failed to comply with the communication provisions of a solicitation;
(C) ensuring an appropriate number of interested vendors are granted access to a pre-bid, pre-offer, or pre-proposal conference; and
(D) ensuring that agency personnel who are involved in implementing a specific procurement are also involved in evaluating and scoring the responses submitted to the solicitation for the procurement.