HBA-NIK C.S.S.C.R. 24 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.C.R. 24 By: Carona Civil Practices 5/7/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The DalMac Construction Company, Inc. (company), alleges that on February 15, 1993, the company and Texas A&M University (university) entered into a contract for the construction of a recreational sports building and that the university has breached the contract. C.S.S.C.R. 24 provides that the company is granted permission to file a claim against the university with the State Office of Administrative Hearings for amounts owed under the contract for construction of the recreational sports building. 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 C.S.S.C.R. 24 provides that DalMac Construction Company, Inc. (company) is granted permission to file a claim against Texas A&M University (university) with the State Office of Administrative Hearings (office) for amounts owed under the contract for construction of the recreational sports building. Requires an administrative law judge of the office to hear the claim as a contested case under Chapter 2001, Government Code, and render a written order containing the administrative law judge's findings of facts and recommendations. Authorizes the university to assert in the contested case authorized by this resolution any counterclaim or offset that the university claims against the company, with respect to the contract. Requires the university to pay, exclusively from money appropriated for this purpose, the claim or any part of claim if the administrative law judge finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, the claim or part of the claim is valid under the laws of this state. Prohibits the amount awarded by the administrative law judge in a contested case authorized by this resolution from including any amount attributable to consequential damages resulting from any breach of contract, punitive or exemplary damages, or attorney's fees. Prohibits the amount of a claim paid in accordance with any order of an administrative law judge from exceeding the balance due and owing on the contract price, including any orders for additional work, less any amount owed for work not performed under the contract or in substantial compliance with the contract and less any valid counterclaim or offset asserted by the university, or in any event, an amount exceeding $3 million. Provides that any act, finding, ruling, or award of an administrative law judge in a contested case authorized under this resolution is not subject to appeal to any court of this state. Authorizes an administrative law judge to establish a fee in an amount that allows the office to recover its costs with respect to the contested case authorized by this resolution and assess the fee against the party that does not prevail in the contested case or apportion the fee against the parties to the contested case in an equitable manner. Requires the hearings held by the office in accordance with this resolution to be held in accordance with legislation enacted by the 76th Legislature under which the office may hear claims against the state, and any rules or procedures adopted under that legislation. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.S.C.R. 24 removes text from the original bill which proposed to do the following: Provided that the DalMac Construction Company, Inc. (company) is granted permission to sue the State of Texas and Texas A&M University (university) subject to Chapter 107, Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Provided that the president of the university be served process as provided by Subdivision (3), Subsection (a), Section 107.002, Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Provided that the company is entitled to seek actual monetary damages, including court costs and attorney's fees, but excluding exemplary damages or costs incurred in the preparation of its claims. Prohibited any of the court records, pleadings, motions, or discovery related to the suit authorized by this resolution from being sealed by the court or the parties from public inspection. C.S.S.C.R. 24 replaces the removed text concerning a civil suit with text authorizing the company to file a claim with the State Office of Administrative Hearings. For an analysis of the added text, please see the Section-by-Section Analysis portion of this document.