HBA-MPM H.B. 1980 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1980
By: Farabee
Business & Industry
3/29/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, governmental entities including cities and counties that
contract with building or construction contractors must only hire those who
carry workers' compensation insurance.  Many small contractors capable of
submitting competitive bids are precluded from the selection process
because they lack workers' compensation insurance.  This might prohibit a
governmental entity from getting the best services and lead to larger
expenditures.  House Bill 1980 authorizes governmental entities to hire
contractors without workers' compensation insurance for contracting
projects that cost less than $9,000 per year. 

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 1980 amends the Labor Code to require a governmental entity that
enters into a building or construction contract for which the total dollar
amount in a fiscal year exceeds $9,000 to require the contractor to certify
in writing that the contractor provides workers' compensation insurance
coverage for each employee of the contractor employed on the public
project.  The bill also makes this provision applicable to each
subcontractor on the public project and requires the subcontractor to
provide a certificate relating to coverage of its employees to the general
contractor, who is then required to provide the certificate to the
governmental entity. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.