AG Opinion: Contracting. Education Vendors.

Attorney General Opinion Request 0081- KP seeks clarification on education vendors.

Who is requesting the Attorney General Opinion? Senator Nelson

Why the Attorney General Opinion? 2015 contracting reforms and the Education Code conflict as to conflicts of interest with education vendors.

What question does Chairman Nelson want the Attorney General to answer? Whether 2015’s SB 20 Government Code provisions conflict with existing Education Code Section 51.923.

What’s the difference in these 2 code sections? SB 20 sets up a Government Code prohibits an agency’s govenrment board from entering into a contract with a vendor if a member of that government board has a financial interest. Whereas, the Education Code does the opposite. The Education Code permits institutions of higher education to enter into contracts with vendors in which members of the higher education institution;’s governing board have a financial interest.