Amend CSSB 1420 (house committee printing) by striking page 32, line 24, through page 33, line 17, and substituting:

Sec. 223.002.  NOTICE OF BIDS [BY PUBLICATION]. (a) The department shall give [publish] notice to interested persons regarding [of] the time and place at which bids on a contract will be opened and the contract awarded. Subject to Subsections (b) and (c), the commission by rule shall determine the most effective method for providing the notice required by this section.

(b)  The notice must be published in a newspaper published in the county in which the improvement is to be made and, at a minimum, must provide the address of an Internet website on which information regarding bids may be located [once a week for at least two weeks before the time set for awarding the contract and in two other newspapers that the department may designate].

(c)  [Instead of the notice required by Subsection (b), if the department estimates that the contract involves an amount less than $300,000, notice may be published in two successive issues of a newspaper published in the county in which the improvement is to be made.

[(d)]  If a newspaper is not published in the county in which the improvement is to be made, notice shall be published in a newspaper published in the county:

(1)  nearest the county seat of the county in which the improvement is to be made; and

(2)  in which a newspaper is published.