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House Bill 3249 |
House Author: Truitt et al. |
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Effective: 6-15-07 |
Senate Sponsor: Brimer |
House Bill 3249 amends the Texas Sunset Act, in the Government Code, and revises the review process for more than 30 state agencies, boards, committees, and other entities. The bill provides that an individual is not eligible for appointment as a public member of the Sunset Advisory Commission if the individual or the individual's spouse is a paid lobbyist on behalf of a party related to an agency under review. It establishes that a legislative member who serves a full term, rather than more than half of a term, is ineligible for an immediately succeeding term, and it modifies the vote requirements to approve actions by the commission. The bill changes the following deadlines: it requires an agency to report to the commission on September 1, rather than October 30, of its reporting year; it requires the commission to complete its review and report on an agency before January 1, rather than September 1, of the year in which an agency is abolished; it requires the commission to conduct public hearings before February 1, rather than between September 1 and December 1, of the year an agency is abolished; and it requires the commission to report to the state auditor after the legislature acts on the report, rather than on the date the report is presented to the legislature. Among other provisions, the bill revises the criteria that the commission uses in its review of an agency, changes the required content of its report on an agency, and requires it to forward certain of its recommendations to the Legislative Budget Board. The bill repeals a provision that prohibited the legislature from considering more than one agency sunset review in a single bill, except if the agencies were to be consolidated, and required it to mention the affected agencies in the title of the bill. The bill changes the sunset date for the following entities to 2009: the Department of Agriculture, Texas-Israel Exchange Fund Board, the Board of Directors of the Official Cotton Growers' Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Prescribed Burning Board, Parks and Wildlife Department, Office of State-Federal Relations, and Board of Tax Professional Examiners, with a limited review of the Texas Historical Commission and Office of Rural Community Affairs. The bill changes the sunset date of the following entities from 2009 to 2011: Health and Human Services Commission, Texas Cancer Council, Department of State Health Services, Department of Family and Protective Services, Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities, Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities, Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Aging and Disability Services, Division of Workers' Compensation in the Texas Department of Insurance, Office of Injured Employee Counsel, Department of Information Resources, Electronic Government Program Management Office, and Texas Public Finance Authority. The bill changes the sunset date for the following entities to 2013: State Preservation Board, Texas Workforce Commission, State Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, State Committee of Examiners in the Fitting and Dispensing of Hearing Instruments, Executive Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Examiners, Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, Texas Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners, Texas Board of Orthotics and Prosthetics, and Self-Directed Semi-Independent Agency Project. The bill removes the Texas Military Facilities Commission from specific sunset review, and it requires a special purpose review of the Texas Medical Board.