Bill Text: TX HB546 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to a prohibition on state contracting for goods produced through forced labor; providing penalties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-22 - Left pending in committee [HB546 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB546-Introduced.html
| 84R660 YDB-D | ||
| By: White of Tyler | H.B. No. 546 | |
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| relating to a prohibition on state contracting for goods produced | ||
| through forced labor; providing penalties. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 2155, Government Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 2155.0045 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 2155.0045. CONTRACTS FOR GOODS MADE BY FORCED LABOR. | ||
| (a) In this section, "forced labor" means labor that is performed | ||
| or provided by another person and obtained through an actor's use of | ||
| force, fraud, or coercion. | ||
| (b) A state agency shall include in each state agency | ||
| contract to procure goods from a vendor: | ||
| (1) a provision specifying that goods furnished to the | ||
| state under the contract may not be produced wholly or partly by | ||
| forced labor; and | ||
| (2) a certification from the vendor that the vendor, | ||
| each person represented by the vendor, and each person acting for | ||
| the represented person has not used, in the making of the goods, any | ||
| forced labor. | ||
| (c) A vendor who contracts with the state may not enter | ||
| into, and a state agency may not enter into, a contract for goods | ||
| created wholly or partly by forced labor. | ||
| (d) A vendor that violates this section is subject to: | ||
| (1) termination of the contract to provide the goods | ||
| that violate this section and withholding of payment under the | ||
| contract; | ||
| (2) following the opportunity for a hearing conducted | ||
| under Chapter 2001, the assessment of an administrative penalty | ||
| equal to: | ||
| (A) the greater of $1,000 or 20 percent of the | ||
| value of goods the state agency demonstrates were produced wholly | ||
| or partly by forced labor and supplied to the agency under the | ||
| contract; and | ||
| (B) all reasonable hearings costs, including | ||
| attorney's fees; or | ||
| (3) being barred from bidding on any state contract or | ||
| entering into a contract with a state agency before the first | ||
| anniversary of the date the determination is made that the vendor | ||
| violated this section. | ||
| (e) A contract entered into that violates this section is | ||
| void as against public policy. | ||
| (f) This section does not apply to goods created wholly or | ||
| partly by a person who performs services while imprisoned in the | ||
| Texas Department of Criminal Justice or while confined in a county | ||
| or municipal jail. | ||
| SECTION 2. Section 2155.0045, Government Code, as added by | ||
| this Act, applies only to a contract entered into on or after the | ||
| effective date of this Act. A contract entered into before that | ||
| date is governed by the law as it existed on the date the contract | ||
| was entered into, and that law is continued in effect for that | ||
| purpose. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. | ||
