Relating to prohibited considerations in governmental entity contracting and elimination of the state's historically underutilized business program.

HB 147 prohibits Texas government entities from considering race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or diversity, equity, and inclusion programs when awarding contracts. Instead, contracts must be based solely on merit-based criteria like price and qualifications. The bill eliminates Texas' "historically underutilized business program" (Chapter 2161 of the Government Code), which previously provided preferential treatment to certain businesses. This applies to all state and local government contracting decisions made on or after the bill's effective date. The law does not affect existing contracts entered into before the effective date.