Texas Comptroller Bars Entities Tied to Convicted Traffickers From State Contracts — and Now Grants, Too

Texas Comptroller Don Huffines announced an executive order on Thursday, Oct. 29, barring any entity with financial participation by a convicted human-trafficking offender from receiving a Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts contract or grant, according to the Comptroller's announcement, distributed by EIN Presswire and read in full by the Texas Desk this cycle.

Under the order, every contractor and grantee must certify that it is eligible under Texas Government Code Section 2155.0061, which bars financial participation by any person who, in the preceding five years, has been convicted of an offense related to the direct support or promotion of human trafficking. The certification also acknowledges that the agency may withhold payment, or terminate the agreement immediately, if the certification is inaccurate.

Texas law already barred a state agency from accepting a bid or awarding a contract that includes that kind of financial participation, the announcement said. That prohibition applied to state contracts but not to grants; the order closes that gap by writing the eligibility certification into every contract and grant the Comptroller's office administers, and the requirements will apply to all future contracts and grants.

'Human trafficking is pure evil, and Texas will not allow a single dollar of public money to flow to anyone connected to it,' Huffines said in the announcement. The order follows his Oct. 13 executive order on Flock cameras and automated license plate readers, his Oct. 15 order on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and his Oct. 21 order on businesses that demand COVID-19 vaccine passports, the announcement said.