HBA-TYH S.B. 583 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 583
By: Ellis
State Affairs
4/27/1999
Engrossed



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, a state agency may issue a contract to a provider of goods and
services without confirming with the comptroller if a prospective
contractor owes any debt or taxes to the state.  In an effort to make
agencies more accountable for their debts and to decrease overall the debt
owed to the state, the attorney general and the comptroller suggested that
vendors owing money to the state must have their debts subtracted from the
warrants they receive from state contracts.  S.B. 583 prohibits a state
agency from issuing a contract unless the proposed contractor agrees to
certain provisions regarding the contractor's debt or delinquent taxes owed
to the state.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the comptroller in SECTION 1 (Section
403.055, Government Code) of the bill. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 403.055, Government Code, by adding Subsection
(h), to provide that a state agency, prior to signing a contract under
which the state agency will pay a person for providing goods or services of
any kind, to verify whether the comptroller is currently prohibited from
issuing a warrant to a person under this section.  Prohibits a state agency
from signing a contract if the comptroller is prohibited from issuing a
warrant, unless the person agrees to a contract clause under which any
payments owed to the person under the contract will be applied towards the
debt or delinquent taxes until the person's taxes are paid in full.
Authorizes the comptroller to adopt rules to administer this subsection. 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.

SECTION 3.Emergency clause.