By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1679
(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2013; March 25, 2013, read
first time and referred to Committee on Government Organization;
April 8, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 8, 2013,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1679 By: Garcia
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state agency procurement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2155.002, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2155.002. COMPTROLLER [COMMISSION] FOCUS ON LARGE
EXPENDITURES. To the extent possible, the comptroller [commission]
shall focus [its efforts under this chapter and Chapters 2156,
2157, and 2158] on purchases and contracts that involve relatively
large amounts of money or that leverage state spending in the most
efficient manner.
SECTION 2. Section 2155.064, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2155.064. LEVERAGED [SCHEDULE AND BULK] PURCHASING.
To the greatest extent possible, the comptroller shall pursue
statewide contracts and attempt to leverage state spending to
achieve cost savings for this state. [The commission may combine
orders in a system of schedule purchasing and shall attempt to
benefit from bulk purchasing.]
SECTION 3. Section 2155.072, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2155.072. STATEWIDE OR REGIONAL GOODS OR SERVICES
CONTRACTS; COMPTROLLER [COMMISSION] STUDIES. Each state fiscal
year, the comptroller [(a) The commission annually] shall consider
one or more goods or services purchased by one or more state
agencies for development into statewide contracts. The comptroller
shall determine if a particular good or service may be leveraged for
multiple state agencies at a cost savings to this state compared to
the cost to this state of purchasing the good or service under
individual state agency contracts [select for study at least one
service that is purchased by one or more state agencies]. The
comptroller [commission] shall consider awarding statewide
contracts by region [study a selected service to determine whether
the state would benefit if the service were provided to appropriate
state agencies under a regional or statewide contract. The
commission shall give priority to studying services for which the
commission has delegated the purchasing function to many state
agencies].
[(b) The commission is not required to enter into a
statewide or regional contract for the provision of a service to
state agencies if more than five bidders are willing to provide the
service to the state under a statewide or regional contract.]
SECTION 4. Section 2155.074, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2155.074. PROCUREMENT MANUAL; BEST VALUE AND SOURCING
STANDARDS [STANDARD] FOR PURCHASE OF GOODS OR SERVICES. (a) The
comptroller shall publish and maintain a procurement manual for
state agencies to follow that incorporates the sourcing standards
of this section and the best practices for procurement. Before
publication, the procurement manual must be reviewed by the
Contract Advisory Team established under Chapter 2262. Each state
agency shall comply with the procurement manual in its procurement
activities.
(b) For a purchase of goods and services under this chapter,
each state agency, including the comptroller [commission], shall
purchase goods and services that provide the best value for the
state.
(c) [(b)] In determining the best value for the state, the
purchase price and whether the goods or services meet
specifications are the most important considerations. However, the
comptroller [commission] or other state agency may, subject to
Subsection (d) [(c)] and Section 2155.075, consider other relevant
factors, including:
(1) installation costs;
(2) life cycle costs;
(3) the quality and reliability of the goods and
services;
(4) the delivery terms;
(5) indicators of probable vendor performance under
the contract such as past vendor performance, the vendor's
financial resources and ability to perform, the vendor's experience
or demonstrated capability and responsibility, and the vendor's
ability to provide reliable maintenance agreements and support;
(6) the cost of any employee training associated with
a purchase;
(7) the effect of a purchase on agency productivity;
(8) the vendor's anticipated economic impact to the
state or a subdivision of the state, including potential tax
revenue and employment; and
(9) other factors relevant to determining the best
value for the state in the context of a particular purchase.
(d) [(c)] A state agency shall:
(1) consult with and receive approval from the
comptroller [commission] before considering factors other than
price and meeting specifications when the agency procures through
competitive bidding goods or services with a value that exceeds
$100,000; and
(2) maintain in its records a written explanation of
the reasons other factors are more important than price and meeting
specifications in the procurement of the goods or services.
(e) The comptroller shall:
(1) identify commercially available goods and
services needed or used by state agencies; and
(2) analyze and determine whether the goods and
services are better provided through a statewide contract.
(f) If the comptroller determines that a good or service
identified under Subsection (e) is better provided through a
statewide contract, the comptroller may partner with state agencies
to implement any process, including competitive bidding, developed
by the comptroller to award one or more statewide contracts for the
good or service.
SECTION 5. Subsection (n), Section 2155.083, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(n) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
state agency that conducts covert law enforcement operations is not
required to post the specifications for covert equipment in the
state business daily. [This section does not apply to a state agency
to which Section 51.9335 or 73.115, Education Code, applies.]
SECTION 6. Subchapter B, Chapter 2155, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2155.088 to read as follows:
Sec. 2155.088. PROCUREMENT PLANS FOR GOODS AND SERVICES.
The comptroller shall partner with each state agency to facilitate
efficient communications between the agency and the comptroller on
the agency's procurement plans, including identifying the major
purchases of goods or services the agency has planned for each
fiscal biennium.
SECTION 7. Section 2155.131, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2155.131. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO STATE AGENCIES.
(a) The comptroller [commission] may delegate purchasing
functions to a state agency.
(b) In delegating purchasing authority under this section
or Section 2155.132, the comptroller shall consider factors
relevant to a state agency's ability to perform purchasing
functions, including:
(1) the purchasing capabilities of the agency's
purchasing personnel and the existence of automated purchasing
tools at the agency;
(2) the certification levels held by the agency's
purchasing personnel;
(3) the results of the comptroller's procurement
review audits of an agency's purchasing practices; and
(4) whether the agency has adopted and published as
part of its purchasing rules protest procedures consistent with the
comptroller's protest procedures.
(c) The comptroller shall monitor the purchasing practices
of each state agency that the comptroller delegates purchasing
authority to under Subsection (b) or Section 2155.132 to ensure
that the certification levels of the agency's purchasing personnel
and the quality of the agency's purchasing practices continue to
warrant the delegated purchasing authority. The comptroller may
revoke for any cause, including the agency's failure to comply with
Section 2155.074, all or part of the delegated purchasing
authority. The comptroller shall adopt rules to administer this
subsection.
(d) The comptroller by rule shall develop best practices
for:
(1) the procedures a state agency must follow in
making a delegated purchase; and
(2) the procedures by which a state agency may use the
comptroller's services for delegated purchases under Section
2155.082.
(e) The comptroller on request of a state agency shall
provide assistance to the agency for a delegated purchase.
SECTION 8. Section 2155.132, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2155.132. PURCHASES LESS THAN SPECIFIED MONETARY
AMOUNT. (a) A state agency is delegated the authority to purchase
goods and services if the purchase does not exceed $15,000. If the
comptroller [commission] determines that a state agency has not
followed the comptroller's [commission's] rules or the laws related
to the delegated purchases, the comptroller [commission] shall
report the comptroller's [its] determination to the members of the
state agency's governing body and to the governor, lieutenant
governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and Legislative
Budget Board.
(b) The comptroller [commission] by rule may delegate to a
state agency the authority to purchase goods and services if the
purchase exceeds $15,000. [In delegating purchasing authority
under this subsection or Section 2155.131, the commission shall
consider factors relevant to a state agency's ability to perform
purchasing functions, including:
[(1) the capabilities of the agency's purchasing staff
and the existence of automated purchasing tools at the agency;
[(2) the certification levels held by the agency's
purchasing personnel;
[(3) the results of the commission's procurement
review audits of an agency's purchasing practices; and
[(4) whether the agency has adopted and published
protest procedures consistent with those of the commission as part
of its purchasing rules.]
(c) [The commission shall monitor the purchasing practices
of state agencies that are making delegated purchases under
Subsection (b) or Section 2155.131 to ensure that the certification
levels of the agency's purchasing personnel and the quality of the
agency's purchasing practices continue to warrant the amount of
delegated authority provided by the commission to the agency. The
commission may revoke for cause all or part of the purchasing
authority that the commission delegated to a state agency. The
commission shall adopt rules to administer this subsection.
[(d) The commission by rule:
[(1) shall prescribe procedures for a delegated
purchase; and
[(2) shall prescribe procedures by which agencies may
use the commission's services for delegated purchases, in
accordance with Section 2155.082.
[(e)] Competitive bidding, whether formal or informal, is
required for a purchase by a state agency if the purchase:
(1) exceeds $5,000; and
(2) is made under a written contract.
(d) [(f)] Goods purchased under this section may not
include:
(1) an item for which a statewide contract has been
awarded by the comptroller [under the contract purchase procedure],
unless the quantity purchased is less than any [the] minimum
quantity specified in the contract;
(2) an item required by statute to be purchased from a
particular source, including through the program administered
under Chapter 122, Human Resources Code, or from the Texas
Correctional Industries under Chapter 497; or
(3) a scheduled item that has been designated for
purchase by the comptroller [commission].
(e) [(g)] A large purchase may not be divided into small lot
purchases to circumvent [meet] the dollar limits prescribed by this
section. The comptroller [commission] may not require that
unrelated purchases be combined into one purchase order to exceed
the dollar limits prescribed by this section.
(f) [(h)] A state agency making a purchase under this
section for which competitive bidding is required shall [must]:
(1) attempt to obtain at least three competitive bids
from:
(A) sources listed on the master bidders list
that normally offer for sale the goods being purchased; or
(B) if three vendors are not available on the
master bidders list, vendors in the applicable industry; and
(2) comply with Subchapter E.
SECTION 9. Subchapter C, Chapter 2155, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2155.1325 to read as follows:
Sec. 2155.1325. STANDARDS FOR DELEGATED PURCHASES. (a) A
state agency that is preparing a solicitation for proposals for a
purchase of goods or services with a purchase price that exceeds
$100,000 that is delegated under this chapter or other law shall
submit to the comptroller a copy of the draft solicitation with a
statement of the procurement strategy for the purchase.
(b) The comptroller may review the draft solicitation and
procurement strategy to determine whether the state agency is
following the best value and sourcing standards of Section 2155.074
to the greatest extent possible. The comptroller may:
(1) recommend changes to the draft solicitation or
procurement strategy, provided the written recommended changes are
submitted to the state agency not later than the fifth day after the
date the comptroller receives the draft solicitation and
procurement strategy from the state agency;
(2) partner with the state agency to ensure the
standards of this chapter are followed;
(3) partner with the state agency to award a statewide
contract that results from the solicitation; or
(4) assist the state agency in engaging professional
services or a consultant, as authorized by Section 2155.082, to
assist with the solicitation and to be paid from the cost savings
realized under the contract.
(c) A state agency that receives the comptroller's
recommended changes under Subsection (b)(1) shall:
(1) accept the recommended changes; or
(2) submit alternative suggestions to the comptroller
for review in accordance with this section.
(d) The comptroller may adopt rules to administer this
section.
SECTION 10. The following sections of the Government Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 2155.086;
(2) Section 2155.087;
(3) Section 2155.141; and
(4) Section 2156.002.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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