Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 3024 amends the Government Code to mandate a state agency that requires reports of local governments other than school districts and special-purpose districts to conduct a biennial zero-based review of reporting requirements imposed on those governments; to simplify reporting requirements; and to determine and eliminate requirements that are unnecessary, duplicative, or overly burdensome. An agency may not mandate affected local governments to report on items that are not required by law, rule, or performance measures. Based on its reviews, the agency is to recommend to the legislature statutory changes that minimize cost, duplication, and paperwork and maximize optimal use of public funds. The bill requires an agency, when it contracts with or makes a grant to a local government, to specify any special or unique auditing requirements that must be performed by the local government's independent auditors, and in some cases to provide for agency payment of costs incurred in complying with those requirements that fall outside of generally accepted governmental auditing and accounting standards. An agency must accept, and may not duplicate with state resources, an independent audit of a local government that is performed by a certified public accountant in accordance with those governmental auditing and accounting standards.