HBA-GUM C.S.H.B. 2429 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2429 By: King, Tracy Ways & Means 4/28/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, vendors doing business with the State of Texas cannot choose their method of payment by the comptroller of public accounts (comptroller). Unless a vendor does not have an account with a financial institution, they must be paid through the direct deposit system. This has caused problems for some small businesses that do not have accounting systems sophisticated enough for this method of payment. C.S.H.B. 2429 allows such a vendor to choose either an electronic transfer or a warrant as the method of payment by the comptroller. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Sections 403.016(c) and (h), Government Code, as follows: (c) Includes payments to vendors who choose to receive payment through the electronic funds transfer system rather than by warrant among the payments for which the comptroller of public accounts (comptroller) is required to use the electronic funds transfer system. (h) Includes a person's notification to the comptroller of the person's option to receive the payment by warrant among the cases in which the comptroller is required to pay by issue of a warrant. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 2. Repealer: Section 403.016(k) (providing that the requirement of the comptroller to issue a warrant to pay a person who notifies the comptroller that receiving the payment by electronic funds transfer would be more costly and be impractical than receiving the payment by a warrant, does not apply to a vendor), Government Code. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2429 modifies the original to conform to Legislative Council format. The substitute modifies the caption of the original to read "relating to the method used by the comptroller of public accounts to pay vendors and other persons," rather than "relating to the method of payment for vendors by the comptroller of public accounts." The substitute combines SECTIONS 1 (Section 403.016(c), Government Code) and 2 (Section 403.016(h), Government Code) of the original into SECTION 1 of the substitute. In SECTION 1, the substitute clarifies proposed text requiring the comptroller to use the electronic funds transfer system to make payments to vendors who choose to receive payment through the electronic funds transfer system rather than by warrant, and makes conforming changes. The substitute adds a new SECTION 2 to repeal Section 403.016(k), Government Code, which provides that the requirement of the comptroller to issue a warrant to pay a person who notifies the comptroller that receiving the payment by electronic funds transfer would be more costly and be impractical than receiving the payment by a warrant, does not apply to a vendor.