HBA-TYH, GUM H.B. 3543 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3543 By: Hodge Urban Affairs 7/21/1999 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 76th Legislature, the law allowed certain mass transit authorities to negotiate a contract without competitive sealed bids or proposals if the amount involved in the contract was $15,000 or less. Some transit authorities had expressed an interest in saving money on the administrative costs involved with sealed bids or proposals by raising the maximum dollar amount of a contract that could have been negotiated without sealed bids. In addition, purchasing without sealed bids or proposals could have simplified the administrative process. H.B. 3543 increases from $15,000 to $25,000 the maximum aggregate amount for contracts authorized to be negotiated without competitive sealed bids or proposals. 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 Subsection (c), Section 451.110, Transportation Code, to delete from the list of contracts to which this section does not apply: _a contract by a rapid transit authority created before 1980 in which the principal municipality has a population of less than 1.2 million; or _a contract for $15,000 or less by an authority not described above. SECTION 2. Amends Subsection (a), Section 451.111, Transportation Code, to delete from the list of contracts that the governing body of a rapid transit authority can not allow, unless the posting requirement is satisfied: _a contract by an authority created before 1980 in which the principal municipality has a population of less than 1.2 million; or _a contract for $15,000 or less by an authority not described above. SECTION 3. Amends Subsection (c), Section 452.107, Transportation Code, to increase from $15,000 to $25,000 the maximum aggregate amount for contracts authorized to be negotiated without competitive sealed bids or proposals under this section (Purchases: Competitive Bidding). SECTION 4. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.