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


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3413
By: McClendon
Urban Affairs
4/17/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, a public housing authority must hire an architect to
design plans for public housing projects in order to request competitive
bids.  Once a design has been completed, the housing authority goes through
a competitive bidding process for construction of the designed project.
The housing authority must pay all up front costs of the design work, and
risks losing that money if the project is not built.  Current law does not
allow housing authorities to accept bids that include architectural plans
and construction costs in one proposal, also known as turn-key bids.
C.S.H.B. 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

C.S.H.B. 3413 amends the Local Government Code to provide that the
competitive bidding laws including provisions regarding the purchasing and
contracting authority of local governments 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.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 3413 modifies the original bill by removing the provision that
competitive bidding laws do not apply to the planning, acquisition,
establishment, development, construction or renovation of housing projects,
programs, or facilities that are funded in part by a United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development grant and replacing it with the
provision that competitive bidding laws do not apply to an activity of a
public housing authority to develop a mixed-finance housing project as
defined by federal law.