HBA-MPM C.S.H.B. 597 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 597 By: Flores Public Education 4/7/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) 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. C.S.H.B. 597 requires school districts to give preference to products produced, processed, or grown in Texas 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; CIVIL PENALTY. (a) Requires a school district (district) that purchases goods, including agricultural products, to give preference to goods produced, processed or grown in this state if the cost is equal and the quality is comparable. (b) Requires a district to give preference to goods produced, processed or grown in other states of the United States over foreign products if the cost to the district is equal and the quality is comparable and if goods, including agricultural products produced, processed, or grown in this state are not equal in cost and comparable in quality to other products. (c) Requires a district to give preference to Texas vegetation in purchases of vegetation for landscaping purposes, if the cost is equal and the quality is comparable. (d) Provides that a district in violation of this section or a rule adopted under it is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 in addition to any injunctive relief or other remedy provided by law. (e) Authorizes the attorney general or a county or district attorney, at the request of the commissioner of education (commissioner), to bring a civil action to collect a civil penalty under this section. (f) Provides that a contract awarded in violation of this section is void. (g) Authorizes a district, in the implementation of this section, to receive assistance from and use the resources of the Texas Department of Agriculture, including information on availability of agricultural products. (h) Prohibits a district from adopting product purchasing specifications that unnecessarily exclude goods produced, processed, or grown in this state. (i) Defines for the purpose of this section the following terms: "agricultural products" and "processed." SECTION 2. Requires the Texas Education Agency to conduct an analysis of purchases by districts to determine the effectiveness of Section 44.042, Education Code, as added by this Act, and to report the results to the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives no later than January 1, 2001. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 597 changes the original bill in SECTION 1, as follows: Sec. 44.042. Changes proposed title in the original bill to: PREFERENCE TO TEXAS AND UNITED STATES PRODUCTS; CIVIL PENALTY. Adds "civil penalty" to the title proposed in the original. (a) Requires a school district (district), rather than a district or open-enrollment charter school, that purchases agricultural products, to give preference to those processed, in addition to produced or grown, in this state, if the cost is equal and the quality is comparable, rather than equal. (b) Makes conforming changes. (c) Makes conforming changes. (d) This new subsection provides that a district in violation of this section or a rule adopted under it is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 in addition to any injunctive relief or other remedy provided by law. Redesignates existing Subsection (d) in the original to Subsection (i). (e) This new subsection authorizes the attorney general or a county or district attorney, at the request of the commissioner of education (commissioner), to bring a civil action to collect a civil penalty under this section. (f) This new subsection provides that a contract awarded in violation of this section is void. (g) This new subsection authorizes a district, in the implementation of this section, to receive assistance from and use the resources of the Texas Department of Agriculture, including information on availability of agricultural products. (h) This new subsection prohibits a district from adopting product purchasing specifications that unnecessarily exclude goods produced, processed, or grown in this state. (i) Redesignated from Subsection (d) in the original. Adds the definition of "processed." The substitute redesignates SECTION 2 of the original to SECTION 3, and provides a new SECTION 2 as follows: SECTION 2. Requires the Texas Education Agency to conduct an analysis of purchases by districts to determine the effectiveness of this Act and to report the results to the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives no later than January 1, 2001. SECTIONS 3 and 4 are redesignated from proposed SECTIONS 2 and 3 of the original.