Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1717 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R6304 RDS-D
2	2	By: Hernandez H.B. No. 1717
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the consideration of ownership interests of certain
8	8	persons with a disability in determining whether a business is a
9	9	historically underutilized business for purposes of state
10	10	contracting.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 2161.001(3), Government Code, is amended
13	13	to read as follows:
14	14	(3) "Economically disadvantaged person" means a
15	15	person who:
16	16	(A) is economically disadvantaged because of the
17	17	person's identification as a member of a certain group, including:
18	18	(i) Black Americans;
19	19	(ii) Hispanic Americans;
20	20	(iii) women;
21	21	(iv) Asian Pacific Americans;
22	22	(v) Native Americans; [and]
23	23	(vi) veterans as defined by 38 U.S.C.
24	24	Section 101(2) who have suffered at least a 20 percent
25	25	service-connected disability as defined by 38 U.S.C. Section
26	26	101(16); and
27	27	(vii) persons with a disability as defined
28	28	by 42 U.S.C. Section 12102; and
29	29	(B) has suffered the effects of discriminatory
30	30	practices or other similar insidious circumstances over which the
31	31	person has no control.
32	32	SECTION 2. Section 2161.002, Government Code, is amended by
33	33	adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
34	34	(e) The comptroller shall adopt rules to provide goals for
35	35	increasing the contract awards for the purchase of goods or
36	36	services by the comptroller and other state agencies to businesses
37	37	that qualify as historically underutilized businesses because the
38	38	businesses are at least 51 percent owned or owned, operated, and
39	39	controlled, as required by Section 2161.001(2), by one or more
40	40	persons with a disability as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 12102.
41	41	The goals established under this subsection are in addition to the
42	42	goals established under Subsections (c) and (d), and the goals
43	43	established under Subsections (c) and (d) may not be reduced as a
44	44	result of the establishment of goals under this subsection.
45	45	SECTION 3. Section 2161.061, Government Code, is amended by
46	46	adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
47	47	(f) To be certified by the comptroller as a historically
48	48	underutilized business, a business owned by one or more persons who
49	49	qualify as economically disadvantaged solely based on being a
50	50	person with a disability as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 12102 must
51	51	submit to the comptroller an affidavit from a physician licensed to
52	52	practice medicine in this state for each owner claiming a
53	53	disability verifying that owner's disability.
54	54	SECTION 4. Section 2161.125, Government Code, is amended to
55	55	read as follows:
56	56	Sec. 2161.125. CATEGORIZATION OF HISTORICALLY
57	57	UNDERUTILIZED BUSINESSES. The comptroller, in cooperation with
58	58	each state agency reporting under this subchapter, shall categorize
59	59	each historically underutilized business included in a report under
60	60	this subchapter by sex, race, and ethnicity and by whether the
61	61	business qualifies as a historically underutilized business
62	62	because it is owned or owned, operated, and controlled, as
63	63	applicable, wholly or partly by one or more persons with a
64	64	disability as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 12102 or one or more
65	65	veterans as defined by 38 U.S.C. Section 101(2) who have suffered at
66	66	least a 20 percent service-connected disability as defined by 38
67	67	U.S.C. Section 101(16).
68	68	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.