84R30706 AAF-F
By: Zaffirini, et al. S.B. No. 1638
(Elkins, Galindo)
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1638: No.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to training for state employees, including procurement and
contract management training; authorizing fees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 656.047, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 656.047. PAYMENT OF PROGRAM EXPENSES. (a) A state
agency may spend public funds as appropriate to pay the salary,
tuition and other fees, travel and living expenses, training
stipend, expense of training materials, and other necessary
expenses of an instructor, student, or other participant in a
training or education program.
(b) A state agency that spends more than $5,000 in a state
fiscal year for a training or education program for any individual
employee shall not later than August 31 of that year submit to the
Legislative Budget Board a report including:
(1) a list of the employees participating in a
training or education program and receiving payment from the
agency;
(2) the amount spent on each employee; and
(3) the certification earned by each employee through
the training or education program.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 656, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 656.054 to read as follows:
Sec. 656.054. PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT TRAINING
BY COMPTROLLER. (a) The comptroller shall develop training
programs provided by the comptroller under this subchapter to meet
the needs of state agencies.
(b) Each year a state agency shall estimate the number of
employees requiring procurement or contract management training
and report the anticipated training needs of the state agency to the
comptroller.
(c) On an annual basis the comptroller will assess the
number of employees requiring procurement or contract management
training and will maintain a regular schedule of classes to
accommodate that number.
(d) The comptroller may use its own staff or contract with
private entities or other state agencies to conduct the training.
(e) The comptroller may assess a fee for a training program
in an amount not to exceed the costs incurred by the comptroller to
provide the training program under this subchapter.
SECTION 3. Sections 2054.057, 2155.078, 2262.053, and
2262.0535, Government Code, are transferred to Subchapter C,
Chapter 656, Government Code, redesignated as Sections 656.050,
656.051, 656.052, and 656.053, Government Code, respectively, and
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 656.050 [2054.057]. TRAINING IN CONTRACT NEGOTIATION.
(a) In this section:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Information
Resources.
(2) "Information resources technologies" has the
meaning assigned by Section 2054.003.
(a-1) The department, with the cooperation of the
comptroller and other appropriate state agencies, shall develop and
implement a program to train state agency personnel in effectively
negotiating contracts for the purchase of information resources
technologies.
(b) The department shall make the training available to
state agency personnel who are directly or indirectly involved in
contract negotiations, such as senior or operational management,
purchasers, users of the purchased technologies, and personnel with
relevant technical, legal, or financial knowledge. State agency
personnel directly involved in contract negotiations for the
purchase of information resources technologies shall complete the
training developed by the department.
(c) The department shall include in the training:
(1) information on developing a structured purchasing
method that meets an agency's needs;
(2) information drawn from the state's previous
procurement experience about what is or is not advantageous for the
state;
(3) the perspective of state agencies with oversight
responsibilities related to the state's procurement of information
resources technologies; [and]
(4) information on how to use contracts entered into
by the department under Section 2157.068; and
(5) other information that the department considers
to be useful.
(d) The department may use its own staff or contract with
private entities or other state agencies to conduct the training.
Sec. 656.051 [2155.078]. TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION OF
STATE AGENCY PURCHASING PERSONNEL AND VENDORS. (a) The
comptroller [commission] shall establish and administer a system of
training, continuing education, and certification for state agency
purchasing personnel. The comptroller [commission] may establish
and offer appropriate training to vendors on a cost recovery basis.
The comptroller [commission] may adopt rules to administer this
section, including rules relating to monitoring a certified
purchaser's compliance with the continuing education requirements
of this section.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (n), all state agency
purchasing personnel, including agencies exempted from the
purchasing authority of the comptroller [commission], must receive
the training and continuing education to the extent required by
comptroller rule [of the commission]. A state agency employee who
is required to receive the training may not participate in
purchases by the employing agency unless the employee has received
the required training or received equivalent training from a
national association recognized by the comptroller [commission].
The equivalent training may count, as provided by Subsection (k),
toward the continuing education requirements.
(c) The comptroller [commission] shall set and collect a fee
from state agencies that employ purchasing personnel. The
comptroller [commission] shall set the fee in an amount that
recovers the comptroller's [commission's] costs under this section.
(d) The comptroller [commission] may provide training,
continuing education, and certification under this section to
purchasing personnel employed by a political subdivision or other
public entity of the state. Political subdivision purchasing
personnel may receive, but are not required to receive, the
training, continuing education, or certification provided under
this section. The comptroller [commission] shall collect the fees
described by Subsection (c) for training, education, or
certification under this subsection.
(e) The comptroller [commission] may provide training and
continuing education under this section using the comptroller's
[its] own personnel or through contracts with private entities.
The comptroller [commission] may also, by agreement with a public
entity, use the services of persons employed by the public entity to
provide training and continuing education under this section.
(f) The comptroller [commission] shall provide at least
three levels of training under this section.
(g) The basic training level must include an introduction to
contract purchasing methods, ethical issues affecting purchasing
decisions, and instruction in any other processes and issues that
the comptroller [commission] considers appropriate for
introductory purchasing training.
(h) The second training level must include advanced
instruction in formal and informal bidding methods, introduction to
negotiation methods, instruction in writing specifications, and
instruction in any other processes and issues that the comptroller
[commission] considers appropriate for the second level of
purchasing training.
(i) The third training level must include an introduction to
complex negotiations, instruction in the criteria for determining
which product or service offers the best value for the state, and
instruction in any other processes and issues that the comptroller
[commission] considers appropriate for advanced purchasing
training.
(j) The comptroller [commission] may prescribe the
circumstances under which a state agency may delegate to a
certified purchaser signature purchasing authority to approve
purchase orders.
(k) The comptroller [commission] shall require a reasonable
number of hours of continuing education to maintain a certification
level. The comptroller [commission] may allow attendance at
equivalent certification training recognized by the comptroller
[commission] to count toward the required number of hours.
Maintenance of the certification level may be by yearly renewal or
another reasonable renewal period comparable to nationally
recognized certification requirements.
(l) The comptroller's [commission's] prerequisites for
receiving a level-two purchaser certification must include
completion of the basic training level, passage of a written
examination, and a minimum number of years of purchasing experience
prescribed by the comptroller [commission].
(m) The comptroller's [commission's] prerequisites for
receiving a level-three purchaser certification must include
completion of the second training level, passage of a written
examination, and a minimum of three years of purchasing experience.
(n) This section does not apply to an institution to which
Section 51.9335, Education Code, applies or to an institution to
which Section 73.115, Education Code, applies.
Sec. 656.052 [2262.053]. TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION FOR
CONTRACT MANAGERS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Contract management guide" means the guide
developed under Section 2262.051.
(2) "Contract manager" has the meaning assigned by
Section 2262.001.
(a-1) In coordination with the Department of Information
Resources, state auditor, and Health and Human Services Commission,
the comptroller shall develop a training program for contract
managers.
(b) The training must provide the contract manager with
information regarding how to:
(1) fairly and objectively select and negotiate with
the most qualified contractor;
(2) establish prices that are cost-effective and that
reflect the cost of providing the service;
(3) include provisions in a contract that hold the
contractor accountable for results;
(4) monitor and enforce a contract;
(5) make payments consistent with the contract;
(6) comply with any requirements or goals contained in
the contract management guide; [and]
(7) use and apply advanced sourcing strategies,
techniques, and tools;
(8) maintain required documentation for contracting
decisions, changes to a contract, and problems with a contract;
(9) create a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy;
(10) create a plan for potential problems with the
contract;
(11) develop an accurate and comprehensive statement
of work; and
(12) complete the contract and evaluate performance
under the contract.
(c) Each state agency shall ensure that the agency's
contract managers complete the training developed under this
section.
(d) The comptroller shall administer training under this
section.
(e) The comptroller shall certify contract managers who
have completed the contract management training required under this
section.
(f) A state agency may develop qualified contract manager
training to supplement the training required under this section.
The comptroller may incorporate the training developed by the
agency into the training program under this section.
(g) The comptroller shall adapt the training required under
this section and administer an abbreviated training program meeting
the relevant training requirements under this section for state
agency employees, other than contract managers, with contract
management duties.
Sec. 656.053 [2262.0535]. TRAINING FOR GOVERNING BODIES.
(a) In this section, "state agency" has the meaning assigned by
Section 2056.001.
(a-1) The comptroller shall adapt the program developed
under Section 656.052 [2262.053] to provide an abbreviated program
for training the members of the governing bodies of state agencies.
The training may be provided together with other required training
for members of state agency governing bodies.
(b) All members of the governing body of a state agency
shall complete at least one course of the training provided under
this section. This subsection does not apply to a state agency that
does not enter into any contracts.
SECTION 4. Section 2056.002(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office
of Budget, Policy, and Planning shall determine the elements
required to be included in each agency's strategic plan. Unless
modified by the Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office
of Budget, Policy, and Planning, and except as provided by
Subsection (c), a plan must include:
(1) a statement of the mission and goals of the state
agency;
(2) a description of the indicators developed under
this chapter and used to measure the output and outcome of the
agency;
(3) identification of the groups of people served by
the agency, including those having service priorities, or other
service measures established by law, and estimates of changes in
those groups expected during the term of the plan;
(4) an analysis of the use of the agency's resources to
meet the agency's needs, including future needs, and an estimate of
additional resources that may be necessary to meet future needs;
(5) an analysis of expected changes in the services
provided by the agency because of changes in state or federal law;
(6) a description of the means and strategies for
meeting the agency's needs, including future needs, and achieving
the goals established under Section 2056.006 for each area of state
government for which the agency provides services;
(7) a description of the capital improvement needs of
the agency during the term of the plan and a statement, if
appropriate, of the priority of those needs;
(8) identification of each geographic region of this
state, including the Texas-Louisiana border region and the
Texas-Mexico border region, served by the agency, and if
appropriate the agency's means and strategies for serving each
region;
(9) a description of the training of the agency's
contract managers under Section 656.052 [2262.053];
(10) an analysis of the agency's expected expenditures
that relate to federally owned or operated military installations
or facilities, or communities where a federally owned or operated
military installation or facility is located;
(11) an analysis of the strategic use of information
resources as provided by the instructions prepared under Section
2054.095; and
(12) other information that may be required.
SECTION 5. Section 2262.101(a), Government Code, as amended
by Chapters 676 (H.B. 1965) and 1227 (S.B. 1681), Acts of the 83rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
(a) The Contract Advisory Team is created to assist state
agencies in improving contract management practices by:
(1) reviewing and making recommendations on the
solicitation documents and contract documents for contracts of
state agencies that have a value of at least $10 million;
(2) reviewing any findings or recommendations made by
the state auditor, including those made under Section 2262.052(b),
regarding a state agency's compliance with the contract management
guide;
(3) providing recommendations to the comptroller
regarding:
(A) the development of the contract management
guide; and
(B) the training under Section 656.052
[2262.053];
(4) providing recommendations and assistance to state
agency personnel throughout the contract management process;
(5) coordinating and consulting with the quality
assurance team established under Section 2054.158 on all contracts
relating to a major information resources project; [and]
(6) [(4)] developing and recommending policies and
procedures to improve state agency contract management practices;
(7) [(5)] developing and recommending procedures to
improve state agency contracting practices by including
consideration for best value; and
(8) [(6)] creating and periodically performing a risk
assessment to determine the appropriate level of management and
oversight of contracts by state agencies.
SECTION 6. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.