HBA-CMT H.B. 3413 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3413
By: McClendon
Urban Affairs
7/17/2001
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Prior to the 77th Legislature, a public housing authority was required by
law to hire an architect to design plans for public housing projects in
order to request competitive bids.  Once a design had been completed, the
housing authority went through a competitive bidding process for
construction of the designed project. The housing authority was required to
pay all up front costs of the design work, and risked losing that money if
the project was not built.  Previous law did not allow housing authorities
to accept bids that included architectural plans and construction costs in
one proposal, also known as turn-key bids.  House Bill 3413 authorizes the
use of alternative bidding methods for an activity of a public housing
authority to develop a mixed-finance housing project as defined by federal
law.  

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 3413 amends the Local Government Code to provide that
competitive bidding laws including the Public Property Finance Act do not
apply to an activity of a public housing authority to develop a
mixed-finance housing project as defined by federal law if the housing
project otherwise complies with procurement requirements imposed by federal
law and regulations. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.