HBA-KDB H.B. 1542 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1542
By: Luna, Vilma
State Affairs
2/28/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The historically underutilized business (HUB) program was established in an
attempt to correct the effects of past discrimination of  businesses owned
by minorities and women within the state's procurement process.
Subsequently, legislation was passed that required the General Services
Commission to implement a mentor-____protege program between prime
contractors and HUBs, in an attempt to foster relationships between the two
groups.  However, participation in the program is voluntary for the
contractor and HUBs, and there is little incentive to participate.
Currently, each state agency that considers entering into a contract with
an expected value of $100,000 or more is required to determine whether
there will be subcontracting opportunities under the contract before it can
accept a bid.  If there is a probability of subcontracting, each proposal
is required to include a HUB subcontracting plan, and the contractor must
show a good faith effort to implement the program.  House Bill 1542
authorizes a contractor to participate in the agency's mentor-__protege
agreement rather than implementing the HUB subcontracting plan. 

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 1542 amends the Government Code to provide an exception to the
requirement that a state agency require bids, proposals, offers, or other
expressions of interest to include a historically underutilized business
(HUB) subcontracting plan when it considers entering into a contract with
an expected value of $100,000 or more that has opportunities for
subcontracting.  The exception is  if the contractor is participating or
agrees to participate in the agency's mentor-__protege program or  if the
contractor provides a statement of intent to contract with one or more HUBs
that participate in the mentor-__protege program. 

EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2001.