(a) Except as provided by § 223.005, all bids received and not rejected by the department shall be tabulated and forwarded to the commission.
(b) The commission may accept or reject the bids. Except as provided in Subsection (c), if the bids are accepted, the commission shall award the contract to the lowest bidder, subject to § 223.045.

(c) For a maintenance contract involving an amount less than $300,000, if the lowest bidder withdraws its bid prior to contract award or fails to execute the contract, the director may recommend to the commission that the contract be awarded to the second lowest bidder. The commission may award the maintenance contract to the second lowest bidder if the second lowest bidder agrees to accept the unit bid prices of the lowest bidder. The commission shall adopt rules governing the conditions under which the department will allow the withdrawal of the bid of the lowest bidder and consider awarding a maintenance contract to the second lowest bidder.