HBA-RAR H.B. 597 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 597 By: Flores Public Education 2/26/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, state agencies are required by law to give preference to Texas agricultural products during their food purchasing process, if the Texas product is equal in cost and quality to those produced elsewhere. Due to a lack of enforcement, vagueness of current law, and variances in agriculture products' packaging specifications, most school districts in Texas buy only a small percentage of Texas-grown or processed agricultural products. An increase in purchases by Texas bidders could mean additional dollars not only for Texas farmers, but for the state's economy. H.B. 597 requires school districts and certain charter schools to give preference to Texas-grown or processed products and imposes civil penalties for failure to do so. 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 Subchapter B, Chapter 44, Education Code, by adding Section 44.042, as follows: Sec. 44.042. PREFERENCE TO TEXAS AND UNITED STATES PRODUCTS. (a) Requires a school district or open-enrollment charter school that purchases goods, including agricultural products, to give preference to goods produced or grown in this state if the cost and quality are equal. (b) Requires a school district or open-enrollment charter school to give preference to goods produced or grown in other states of the United States over foreign products, if the cost and quality are equal and the goods produced or grown in this state are not equal in cost and quality. (c) Requires a school district or open-enrollment charter school to give preference to Texas vegetation native to the region in purchases of vegetation for landscaping purposes, if the cost is not greater and the quality is not inferior. (d) Provides that "agricultural products" include textiles and other similar products for the purpose of this section. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.