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Senate committee hears calls to raise penalties for public contracting abuses after Harris County cases
Summary
Lawmakers and criminal-justice witnesses urged the Senate Committee on Local Government to increase criminal penalties for circumventing competitive bidding rules and misuse of official information, citing cases in Harris County and across Texas as examples of weak deterrents under current law.
Senate Committee on Local Government members on Wednesday heard testimony urging lawmakers to strengthen criminal penalties for public contracting abuses, including bid rigging and misuse of official information.
The committee discussed Senate Bill 2,046, filed by Senator Paul Bettencourt, which would increase the criminal penalties tied to violations of county purchasing laws and create a tiered penalty structure keyed to contract amounts. Bettencourt said current sanctions — including a class C misdemeanor for some practices — are inadequate deterrents for schemes that can involve millions of taxpayer dollars.
The bill would raise penalties and create a tiered system linking the severity of a punishment to the contract amount and would add new penalties for intentional,…
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