Texas Transportation Code 431.109 – Contracts for Historically Underutilized Businesses
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(a) This section applies only to a local government corporation serving a county with a population of more than 3.3 million.
(b) A local government corporation shall set and make a good faith effort to meet or exceed goals for awarding contracts or subcontracts associated with a project it operates, maintains, or constructs to historically underutilized businesses.
Terms Used In Texas Transportation Code 431.109
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Effects: includes all personal property and all interest in that property. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Population: means the population shown by the most recent federal decennial census. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) The goals must equal or exceed:
(1) the federal requirement on federal money used in highway construction and maintenance; and
(2) the goals adopted by the department under Section 201.702.
(d) The goals apply to the total value of all contracts and subcontracts awarded, including contracts and subcontracts for construction, maintenance, operations, supplies, services, materials, equipment, professional services, the issuance of bonds, and bond counsel.
(e) In this section, “historically underutilized business” means:
(1) a corporation formed for the purpose of making a profit in which at least 51 percent of all classes of the shares of stock or other equitable securities is owned, managed, and in daily operations controlled by one or more persons who have been historically underutilized because of their identification as members of certain groups, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, women, Asian Pacific Americans, and Native Americans, who have suffered the effects of discriminatory practices or similar invidious circumstances over which they have no control;
(2) a sole proprietorship formed for the purpose of making a profit that is 100 percent owned and in daily operation is controlled by a person described by Subdivision (1);
(3) a partnership formed for the purpose of making a profit in which at least 51 percent of the assets and interest in the partnership are owned by one or more persons described by Subdivision (1) and who also have proportionate interest in the control, daily operation, and management of the partnership’s affairs;
(4) a joint venture in which each entity in the joint venture is a historically underutilized business; or
(5) a supplier contract between a historically underutilized business and a prime contractor under which the historically underutilized business is directly involved in the manufacture or distribution of the supplies or materials or otherwise warehouses and ships the supplies or materials.