86R8483 SRA-F
By: Ashby H.B. No. 1834
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to invoices and payments under certain state contracts for
outside legal services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 402.0212, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(b) An invoice submitted to a state agency under a contract
for legal services as described by Subsection (a) must be:
(1) submitted to the attorney general by the agency's
office of general counsel not later than the 25th day after the date
the agency receives the invoice; and
(2) reviewed by the attorney general to determine
whether the legal services for which the agency is billed are within
the terms and scope of the legal services authorized by the contract
and therefore [the invoice is] eligible for payment.
(b-1) A state agency's office of general counsel shall
include with an invoice submitted under Subsection (b)(1) a written
certification that the legal services for which the agency is
billed are within the terms and scope of the legal services
authorized by the contract and reasonably necessary to fulfill the
contract.
SECTION 2. Section 2251.021, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section
[Subsection (b)], a payment by a governmental entity under a
contract executed on or after September 1, 1987, is overdue on the
31st day after the later of:
(1) the date the governmental entity receives the
goods under the contract;
(2) the date the performance of the service under the
contract is completed; or
(3) the date the governmental entity receives an
invoice for the goods or service.
(b-1) A payment under a contract for legal services
described by Section 402.0212 owed by a state agency is overdue on
the 46th day after the date the agency receives an invoice for the
legal services.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.