TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION OF STATE AGENCY PURCHASING PERSONNEL AND VENDORS.

(a) The comptroller shall establish and administer a system of training, continuing education, and certification for state agency purchasing personnel. The training and continuing education for state agency purchasing personnel must include ethics training. The comptroller may establish and offer appropriate training to vendors on a cost recovery basis. The comptroller may adopt rules to administer this section.

(b) The training, continuing education, and certification required under Subsection (a) must include:

(1) training on the selection of an appropriate procurement method by project type; and

(2) training conducted by the Department of Information Resources on purchasing technologies.

(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (i), all state agency purchasing personnel, including agencies exempted from the purchasing authority of the comptroller, must receive the training and continuing education to the extent required by the comptroller. A state agency employee who is required to receive the training may not participate in purchases by the employing agency unless the employee has received the required training or received equivalent training from a national association recognized by the comptroller.

(d) The comptroller may provide training, continuing education, and certification under this section to purchasing personnel employed by a political subdivision or other public entity of the state. Political subdivision purchasing personnel may receive, but are not required to receive, the training, continuing education, or certification provided under this section.

(e) The training provided by the comptroller must include instruction in:

(1) contract purchasing methods;

(2) ethical issues affecting purchasing decisions;

(3) negotiation methods;

(4) writing specifications;

(5) the criteria for determining which product or service offers the best value for the state;

(6) developing evaluation criteria;

(7) formal and informal bidding methods;

(8) complex negotiations; and

(9) any other processes and issues that the comptroller considers appropriate for purchasing training.

(f) The comptroller may prescribe the circumstances under which a state agency may delegate to a certified purchaser signature purchasing authority to approve purchase orders.

(g) The comptroller shall require a reasonable number of hours of continuing education to maintain certification. The comptroller may allow attendance at equivalent certification training recognized by the comptroller to count toward the required number of hours. Maintenance of certification may be by yearly renewal or another reasonable renewal period comparable to nationally recognized certification requirements. The comptroller shall adopt rules to monitor compliance with this subsection.

(h) The comptroller shall certify a state agency employee as a state agency purchaser when the employee has:

(1) completed the training required by this section or as prescribed by rule; and

(2) passed a written examination.

(i) This section does not apply to an institution to which Section 51.9335, Education Code, applies or to an institution to which Section 73.115, Education Code, applies.