SECTION 401.105. Major Procurement Approval Authority, Responsibilities and Reporting

(a) Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to establish the approval authority, responsibilities and reporting for all formal procurements.

(b) Applicability. This rule applies to all formal procurements made by the agency.

(c) Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Contract--A written agreement between the agency and a vendor for goods or services.

(2) Formal Procurement--A formal competitive solicitation, for the purchase or lease of goods and/or services expected to exceed $25,000, conducted in order to receive at least three sealed competitive bids or proposals pursuant to the issuance of an IFB, RFP, RFQ, or another statewide contract process, respectively.

(3) Major Procurement--Any formal procurement for goods or services that directly supports the agency's core gaming business function and has a cumulative contract value equal to or greater than ten (10) million dollars.

(4) Major Contract--Any contract resulting from a Major Procurement.

(5) Prime Contract--Any contract, other than those contracts designated as Major Contracts, which has a cumulative contract value that exceeds one (1) million dollars.

(6) Value--The agency adopts by reference the determination of contract value set forth in the Texas Procurement and Contract Management Guide published by the Comptroller of Public Accounts. The determination of contract value shall be the estimated dollar amount that the agency may be obligated to pay pursuant to the contract and all executed and proposed amendments, extensions and renewals of the contract. The agency shall base its determination of the proposed length of and compensation during the original term and the renewal periods of the contract on best business practices, state fiscal standards and applicable law, procedures and regulations.

(d) Major Procurement and Major Contract Approval Authority, Responsibilities and Reporting.

(1) Texas Lottery Commission Approval. The executive director or his/her designee shall present all major procurements to the Texas Lottery Commission for review and approval. After a vendor is selected and a contract has been fully negotiated, the Texas Lottery Commission shall provide final approval of the contract with the selected vendor.

(2) Amendments/Renewals/Extensions to Major Contracts. The executive director or his/her designee shall provide the Texas Lottery Commission advance notice of any amendment, renewal or extension to a major contract.

(3) Enhanced Contract Monitoring. The executive director or his/her designee shall immediately notify the Texas Lottery Commission of any serious issue or risk that is identified with respect to a major contract.

(e) Prime Contract Reporting. The executive director or his/her designee shall provide the Texas Lottery Commission advance notice of any procurement, amendment, renewal or extension to a prime contract.

(f) Agency Approval. Except for a contract that by law requires the Commission's approval, the Texas Lottery Commission delegates authority to the executive director (or his/her designee) to approve all contracts and purchase orders not defined as major procurements in subsection (c) of this section.

(g) Authority to Execute Contracts. The Texas Lottery Commission delegates authority to the executive director to execute all contracts for the agency. This authority may be delegated by the executive director.

(h) Contract Planning.

(1) The executive director or his/her designee will present the status of all major and prime contracts to the Texas Lottery Commission annually for informational purposes. The report will be presented at the beginning of each fiscal year.

(2) As deemed necessary by the executive director or his/her designee, updates to the status of certain contracts may be provided to the Texas Lottery Commission periodically throughout the fiscal year for informational purposes.

Source Note: The provisions of this §401.105 adopted to be effective January 1, 2014, 38 TexReg 9528; amended to be effective December 31, 2015, 40 TexReg 9632; amended to be effective May 2, 2019, 44 TexReg 2156