(a) An entity that does business with the department is required to:

(1) disclose to the department in writing the existence of a conflict of interest involving an agreement between the entity and the department and adequately remedy the conflict: (A) before the effective date of the agreement; or (B) if the conflict of interest arises after the effective date of the agreement, within five working days after the date that the entity knows or should have known of the conflict;

(2) adhere to all civil and criminal laws related to business;

(3) maintain good standing with the comptroller, other state agencies, states, and agencies of the federal government with which the entity has had a business relationship;

(4) notify the department in writing within five working days after the date that the entity knows or should have known of the existence of, and must adequately address: (A) a conviction of a bidding crime, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a charge of a bidding crime, a civil judgment for a bidding crime, or a public admission to a bidding crime, whether made by the entity or by an individual or other entity that acted on behalf of the entity; (B) a conviction of an offense indicating a lack of moral or ethical integrity, such as bribery or payment of kickbacks or secret rebates to agents of a governmental entity, if the offense reflects on the business practices of the entity; (C) debarment of the entity by the comptroller, another state agency, another state, or an agency of the federal government for a ground related to business integrity; or (D) any behavior of the entity that seriously and directly affects the entity's responsibility to the department and that is also a violation of: (i) the law; or (ii) the department's rules that relate to the entity's dealing with the department.

(5) disclose to the department any discovery of credible evidence of: (A) a violation of a law involving fraud, bribery, or conflict of interest in connection with the award or performance of its contract; (B) a violation of this section on the part of a subcontractor or subprovider on its contract; or (C) an overpayment on its contract;

(6) cooperate fully with the department or any other government agency responsible for audits, investigations, or corrective actions;

(7) prohibit its employees who have access to non-public information by reason of performance on a department contract from using the information for personal gain; and

(8) refrain from committing acts indicating a lack of moral or ethical integrity and reflecting on the business practices of the entity, including: (A) offering, giving, or agreeing to give a benefit to a member of the commission or to a department employee; (B) submitting an offer below anticipated costs, with an expectation of either increasing the contract amount after award or recovering incurred losses by receiving follow-on contracts at artificially high prices; (C) disclosing or receiving bid or proposal information in exchange for a thing of value or to give anyone a competitive advantage in the award of a department contract; (D) retaliating against an employee for disclosing information to the department relating to a violation of law related to a department contract, including the competition for or negotiation of a contract; (E) knowingly entering into a subcontract with an entity that is suspended or debarred by the department; (F) making false or misleading statements in order to obtain a benefit, including falsifying or permitting misrepresentation of its qualifications; or (G) disposing of waste in an unauthorized area.

(b) In this section, "bidding crime" means an act prohibited by state or federal law that involves fraud, conspiracy, collusion, perjury, or material misrepresentation with respect to a public contract, regardless of where the act was committed.

Source Note: The provisions of this §10.101 adopted to be effective January 6, 2011, 35 TexReg 11951; amended to be effective September 19, 2018, 43 TexReg 6000