Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-712 Page: 4 of 7
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Mr. R. E. Stotzer, Jr. - Page 4 (JM-712)
in Texas contracts that Texas bidders would
experience when bidding on comparable contracts in
those states.
Id.
The legislative history of article 601g was examined in Attorney
General Opinion JM-696 (1987). There we concluded that
the act is intended to impose on any out-of-state
company seeking to bid on construction, supplies,
or services contracts with a political subdivision
in Texas the same burdens that are imposed, if
any, upon Texas resident bidders by the state
in which the nonresident's principal place of
business is located. (Emphasis added).
Although no single member of the legislature can be heard to say what
the meaning of a statute is, Commissioners' Court of El Paso County v.
El Paso County Sheriff's Deputies Association, 620 S.W.2d 900 (Tex.
Civ. App. - El Paso 1981, writ ref'd n.r.e.), we found the following
testimony of the author of the bill containing article 601g instruc-
tive:
In neighboring states like Louisiana, Arkansas,
and New Mexico, there is a rule that says that any
public work awarded in that state, if an out-ot-
state contractor like a contractor from Texas bids
a project in that state, then the Texas bidder, in
order to receive the contract, has to be five
percent lower than the lowest bidder in that
state. This is Arkansas, for instance.. .. If
a state like Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana, New
York, wherever, requires that an out-of-state
contractor be lower by a certain amount in order
to receive that bid, we will require those state
contractors to do the same thing in Texas. ...
Testimony of Rep. Mark Stiles on H.B. No. 602 before House Committee
on Business and Commerce, 69th Leg., public hearing (Feb. 18, 1985)
(transcript available from House Staff Services). In discussing the
meaning of the phrase "comparable contract," further explanation was
made of the apparent intention of the bill:
[W]hat it means is that if in the state of
Arkansas you have to be five percent lower than
the lowest bid to receive a state highway project
bid, that it would be the same thing here.p. 3300
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-712, text, May 28, 1987; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth273150/m1/4/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.