Bill Text: TX SB521 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to prohibiting certain solicitation responses and contracts resulting from a school district or open-enrollment charter school solicitation for goods or services.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-14 - Referred to Education [SB521 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-SB521-Introduced.html

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86R1576 SOS-D
By: Rodríguez S.B. No. 521

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to prohibiting certain solicitation responses and
contracts resulting from a school district or open-enrollment
charter school solicitation for goods or services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.1053, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an open-enrollment
charter school's charter may not provide for procedures that
conflict with Section 44.0315.
SECTION 2. Section 44.0311, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (c) and
(d), this subchapter applies to junior college districts.
(d) Section 44.0315 does not apply to a junior college
district.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 44, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 44.0315 to read as follows:
Sec. 44.0315. PROHIBITED SOLICITATION RESPONSES AND
CONTRACTS. (a) In this section, "solicitation response" includes a
bid, proposal, offer, or qualification.
(b) A vendor may not submit a solicitation response for a
solicitation for goods or services by a school district or
open-enrollment charter school or enter into a contract resulting
from the solicitation response if the vendor participated in
preparing the scope of or specifications for the solicitation.
(c) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that determines that a vendor violated Subsection (b):
(1) may immediately terminate any contract that
resulted from the solicitation response and withhold payment to the
vendor under the contract without further obligation to the vendor;
and
(2) may not accept another solicitation response from
or award any contract to the vendor before the first anniversary of:
(A) the date the vendor submitted the
solicitation response; or
(B) if the vendor executed a contract with the
district or school resulting from the solicitation response, the
date the vendor executed the contract.
(d) A vendor solicitation response to a solicitation
described by Subsection (b) must include the following statement:
"Under Section 44.0315, Education Code, the vendor certifies
that the vendor did not participate in preparing the scope of or
specifications for the solicitation on which this response is
based. The vendor acknowledges that if this certification is
inaccurate the soliciting entity:
"(1) may terminate any contract resulting from the
solicitation response and withhold payment to the vendor without
further obligation to the vendor; and
"(2) may not accept another solicitation response from
or award any contract to the vendor before the first anniversary of:
"(A) the date the vendor submitted this
solicitation response; or
"(B) if the vendor executed a contract with the
district or school resulting from this solicitation response, the
date the vendor executed the contract."
(e) A vendor contract resulting from a solicitation
response to a solicitation described by Subsection (b) must include
the following statement:
"Under Section 44.0315, Education Code, the vendor certifies
that the vendor did not participate in preparing the scope of or
specifications for the solicitation on which this contract is
based. The vendor acknowledges that if this certification is
inaccurate the soliciting entity:
"(1) may terminate this contract and withhold payment
to the vendor without further obligation to the vendor; and
"(2) may not accept another solicitation response from
or award another contract to the vendor until the first anniversary
of the date on which the vendor executed this contract."
(f) This section does not create a cause of action to
contest the acceptance of a solicitation response or the award of a
contract by a school district or open-enrollment charter school.
(g) This section does not prohibit the exchange of
information between a vendor and a school district or
open-enrollment charter school to monitor an existing contract with
the district or school.
SECTION 4. (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply
only to a solicitation for which a school district or
open-enrollment charter school first advertises or otherwise
solicits bids, proposals, offers, qualifications, or similar
responses on or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) A solicitation for which a school district or
open-enrollment charter school first advertised or otherwise
solicited bids, proposals, offers, qualifications, or similar
responses before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect when the first advertisement or solicitation was
given, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.