Sec. 497.0596.  NOTICE CONCERNING CERTAIN CONTRACTS.  (a)  Not later than the 60th day before the date a governmental entity intends to enter into a contract with an employer for a private sector prison industries program under this subchapter, the governmental entity shall notify:
(1)  the state senator and state representative in whose district the program covered by the contract is or will be located;
(2)  the executive heads of the Texas AFL-CIO, the Texas Association of Manufacturers, the National Federation of Independent Business/Texas, the Texas Association of Business, and the Texas Association of Workforce Boards;
(3)  the chamber of commerce in any municipality or county in which the program covered by the contract is or will be located; and
(4)  any employer that employs persons in this state who are not incarcerated or imprisoned and who, as determined under rules adopted by the Texas Workforce Commission to implement this subdivision:
(A)  perform work in the same job descriptions as participants in the program covered by the contract will perform; or
(B)  are otherwise engaged in the manufacture of the same or a substantially similar product as will be manufactured under the contract.
(b)  The notice required by Subsection (a) must include a specific description, in plain language and in an easily readable and understandable format, of any product that will be manufactured under the contract.
(c)  A governmental entity that provides notice under Subsection (a) may charge the employer with whom the governmental entity intends to enter into the contract for the cost of providing that notice.
Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1282 (H.B. 1914), Sec. 16, eff. June 19, 2009.