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S.B. No. 581
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of the Veterans' Land Board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 2155, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2155.149 to read as follows:
Sec. 2155.149. CERTAIN PURCHASES BY VETERANS' LAND BOARD.
(a) The Veterans' Land Board is delegated all purchasing functions
relating to veterans homes and veterans cemeteries.
(b) The Veterans' Land Board shall acquire goods and
services under Subsection (a) by any procurement method that
provides the best value to the Veterans' Land Board. The Veterans'
Land Board shall consider the best value standards listed in
Section 2155.074.
(c) At the request of the Veterans' Land Board, the
commission shall procure goods and services described by Subsection
(a) for the Veterans' Land Board. The Veterans' Land Board may use
the services of the commission in procuring goods and services
described by Subsection (a).
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 2166.003, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Unless otherwise provided, this chapter does not apply
to:
(1) a project constructed by and for the Texas
Department of Transportation;
(2) a project constructed by and for a state
institution of higher education;
(3) a pen, shed, or ancillary building constructed by
and for the Department of Agriculture for the processing of
livestock before export;
(4) a project constructed by the Parks and Wildlife
Department;
(5) a repair or rehabilitation project, except a major
renovation, of buildings and grounds on the commission inventory;
(6) a repair and rehabilitation project of another
using agency, if all labor for the project is provided by the
regular maintenance force of the using agency under specific
legislative authorization and the project does not require the
advance preparation of working plans or drawings;
(7) a repair and rehabilitation project involving the
use of contract labor, if the project has been excluded from this
chapter by commission rule and does not require the advance
preparation of working plans or drawings;
(8) an action taken by the Texas [Natural Resource
Conservation] Commission on Environmental Quality under Subchapter
F or I, Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code; [or]
(9) a repair, rehabilitation, or construction project
on property owned by the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs or the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation; or
(10) a project constructed by and for the Veterans'
Land Board.
SECTION 3. Subdivision (7), Subsection (a), Section
161.001, Natural Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
(7) "Veteran" means a person who:
(A)(i) served not less than 90 [continuous] days,
unless sooner discharged by reason of a service-connected
disability, on active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast
Guard, United States Public Health Service (as constituted under 42
U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.), or Marine Corps of the United States
after September 16, 1940, and who on the date of filing an
application under the program has not been dishonorably discharged
from the branch of the service in which the person served;
(ii) has at least 20 years of active or
reserve military service as computed when determining the person's
eligibility to receive retired pay under applicable federal law;
(iii) has enlisted or received an
appointment in the Texas National Guard, who has completed all
initial active duty training required as a condition of the
enlistment or appointment, and who on the date of filing the
person's application has not been dishonorably discharged from the
Texas National Guard; or
(iv) served in the armed forces of the
Republic of Vietnam between February 28, 1961, and May 7, 1975, if
the board adopts a rule regarding these veterans under Subsection
(b);
(B) at the time of the person's enlistment,
induction, commissioning, appointment, or drafting was a bona fide
resident of this state or has resided in this state at least one
year immediately before the date of filing an application under
this chapter; and
(C) at the time of the person's application under
this chapter is a bona fide resident of this state. The term
includes the unmarried surviving spouse of a veteran who died or who
is identified as missing in action if the deceased or missing
veteran meets the requirements of this section, with the exception
that the deceased or missing veteran need not have served 90
[continuous] days under Paragraph (A)(i) of this subdivision, and
if the deceased or missing veteran was a bona fide resident of this
state at the time of enlistment, induction, commissioning,
appointment, or drafting.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by Sections 1 and 2 of
this Act apply only to a contract or project for which the Veterans'
Land Board first advertises or otherwise solicits bids, proposals,
offers, or qualifications on or after the effective date of this
Act. A contract or project for which the Veterans' Land Board, or a
state agency acting on behalf of the Veterans' Land Board, first
advertised or otherwise solicited bids, offers, or qualifications
before that date is governed by the law in effect when the first
advertisement or solicitation was given, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 581 passed the Senate on March
31, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendment on April 21, 2005, by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 581 passed the House, with
amendment, on April 19, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 145,
Nays 0, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor