84R15385 T
By: Coleman H.B. No. 3472
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.