| 1 | 1 | | H.B. No. 3989 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | AN ACT |
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| 5 | 5 | | relating to the adoption of a policy on the preclusion of private |
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| 6 | 6 | | design professionals from contracting with the Texas Department of |
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| 7 | 7 | | Transportation. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 2261, Government Code, is |
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| 10 | 10 | | amended by adding Section 2261.260 to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | Sec. 2261.260. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION |
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| 12 | 12 | | PRECLUSION POLICY FOR PRIVATE DESIGN PROFESSIONALS. (a) In this |
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| 13 | 13 | | section, "private design professional" has the meaning assigned by |
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| 14 | 14 | | Section 2252.905. |
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| 15 | 15 | | (b) Before the Texas Department of Transportation may make a |
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| 16 | 16 | | determination under this subchapter that a private design |
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| 17 | 17 | | professional is precluded from performing a contract for |
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| 18 | 18 | | architectural or engineering services or from participating in a |
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| 19 | 19 | | procurement for those services, the department must adopt a written |
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| 20 | 20 | | preclusion policy. |
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| 21 | 21 | | (c) A policy under this section must: |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) be published or distributed in a manner that |
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| 23 | 23 | | ensures that private design professionals in this state are aware |
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| 24 | 24 | | of the policy; |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2) provide that the private design professional be |
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| 26 | 26 | | notified in writing at the time the Texas Department of |
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| 27 | 27 | | Transportation determines that a potential basis for preclusion |
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| 28 | 28 | | exists; and |
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| 29 | 29 | | (3) provide for an appeals process by which the |
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| 30 | 30 | | private design professional is given a reasonable amount of time to |
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| 31 | 31 | | establish that no basis for preclusion under the policy exists. |
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| 32 | 32 | | SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 33 | 33 | | a contract entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 34 | 34 | | A contract entered into before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 35 | 35 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the contract was entered |
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| 36 | 36 | | into, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 37 | 37 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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| 38 | 38 | | ______________________________ ______________________________ |
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| 39 | 39 | | President of the Senate Speaker of the House |
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| 40 | 40 | | I certify that H.B. No. 3989 was passed by the House on April |
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| 41 | 41 | | 20, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 4, 2 present, not |
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| 42 | 42 | | voting. |
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| 43 | 43 | | ______________________________ |
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| 44 | 44 | | Chief Clerk of the House |
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| 45 | 45 | | I certify that H.B. No. 3989 was passed by the Senate on May |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. |
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| 47 | 47 | | ______________________________ |
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| 48 | 48 | | Secretary of the Senate |
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| 49 | 49 | | APPROVED: _____________________ |
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| 50 | 50 | | Date |
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| 51 | 51 | | _____________________ |
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| 52 | 52 | | Governor |
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