TO:	Honorable Greg Bonnen, Chair, House Committee on Appropriations
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB2021 by Bonnen (Relating to state budget execution authority for certain federal funds.), As Introduced

The bill would create the Board on Administration of Federal Funds consisting of the Lieutenant Governor; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee; and the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the house appropriations committee. The Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker are joint chairs of the board.
 
The Board may propose the acceptance or rejection of federal funds made available to state after the effective date of the general appropriations bill, the availability of which could not have been reasonably anticipated or included in the act before its final passage by the legislature.
 
The Board may propose that the authority to spend part or all of an appropriation of federal funds made to a state agency be transferred to another state agency to be used for a specified purpose or be retained by the agency to which the appropriation was made but used for a purpose different from, or additional to, the purpose for which the appropriation was made.
 
The Board may propose the allocation of accepted federal funds to a state agency for a stated purpose that cannot otherwise be allocated to a state agency and expended for an existing purpose, including a grant or loan program or a funding formula.
 
The proposals must be published in the Texas Register. After publication and a public hearing, the Board may ratify, amend then ratify, or reject the proposal with an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the board from each house.

Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.