By: Smith, A. H.C.R. No. 124 73R9110 SRD-F CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Governments collect and provide information for 1-2 public purposes, and information residing in the various agencies 1-3 of state government is a strategic asset belonging to the people of 1-4 Texas; and 1-5 WHEREAS, Governments have an obligation to keep their 1-6 information in formats that are sufficiently flexible to meet the 1-7 reasonable requests of citizens for information about government; 1-8 and 1-9 WHEREAS, Texas state government must comply with open records 1-10 laws and can offer a valuable service to its constituents by 1-11 bringing together information from its various repositories through 1-12 a single point of access system; and 1-13 WHEREAS, A single point of access will save taxpayers money, 1-14 eliminate duplication of service, remove confusion over where to go 1-15 for information, and serve as a valuable resource for citizens, 1-16 businesses, and communities; and 1-17 WHEREAS, Technological and theoretical advances in the area 1-18 of information use are ongoing at a rapid pace and the nature of 1-19 these advances presents Texas with the opportunity to provide 1-20 higher quality, more timely, and more cost-effective governmental 1-21 services; and 1-22 WHEREAS, Cost-effective technologies such as toll-free 1-800 1-23 telephone numbers, personal computers with modems, and relational 1-24 databases allow users to dial into systems and have access to 2-1 volumes of information residing at a number of state agencies; and 2-2 WHEREAS, Texas state agencies and universities currently 2-3 operate more than 30 data networks that use the statewide 2-4 telecommunications backbone for transport and can be accessed 2-5 remotely; now, therefore, be it 2-6 RESOLVED, That the 73rd Legislature of the State of Texas 2-7 hereby request the lieutenant governor and speaker of the house of 2-8 representatives to create a joint interim study committee to 2-9 examine opportunities for providing equal electronic access to 2-10 state information required by the public and businesses; and, be it 2-11 further 2-12 RESOLVED, That such a committee be composed of six 2-13 members: one senator and one citizen appointed by the lieutenant 2-14 governor, one house member and one citizen appointed by the 2-15 speaker, and two citizen members appointed by the governor; and, be 2-16 it further 2-17 RESOLVED, That the chair be designated by agreement between 2-18 the lieutenant governor and the speaker; and, be it further 2-19 RESOLVED, That the committee be assisted by an advisory 2-20 committee consisting of representatives of the attorney general, 2-21 the department of commerce, the commissioner of education, the 2-22 commissioner of higher education, the Department of Information 2-23 Resources, the state library and archives commission, the secretary 2-24 of state, and other persons designated by the committee; and, be it 2-25 further 2-26 RESOLVED, That the committee be authorized to appoint 2-27 subcommittees with representatives of state agencies and 3-1 universities, as needed; and, be it further 3-2 RESOLVED, That the committee consider the roles of private 3-3 information vendors as well as those of existing state networks and 3-4 applications, and that all state agencies and institutions 3-5 cooperate with the committee; and, be it further 3-6 RESOLVED, That the committee be directed to study and develop 3-7 recommendations to achieve the following goals: 3-8 (1) a single point of access to the various existing 3-9 state-operated bulletin board systems; 3-10 (2) electronic access for members of the public to the 3-11 public information of state agencies via a gateway service; 3-12 (3) a dial-in gateway or electronic network for access 3-13 to public information; 3-14 (4) appropriate oversight of any network management; 3-15 (5) ways and means of expanding the amount and kind of 3-16 public information provided, increasing the utility of the public 3-17 information provided in the form in which provided, expanding the 3-18 base of users who access such public information, and, where 3-19 appropriate, implementing such changes; 3-20 (6) technological ways and means of improving citizen 3-21 and business access to public information and, where appropriate, 3-22 implementing such technological improvements; and 3-23 (7) technological ways and means of providing for 3-24 two-way electronic communications, such as electronic mail, between 3-25 citizens and business and government agencies and, where 3-26 appropriate, implementing such technologies; and, be it further 3-27 RESOLVED, That the committee seek advice from the general 4-1 public, professional associations, academic groups and 4-2 institutions, and individuals with knowledge of and interest in 4-3 areas of networking, electronic mail, public information access, 4-4 gateway services, add-on services, and electronic filing of 4-5 information; and, be it further 4-6 RESOLVED, That the committee consider federal initiatives and 4-7 practices in this area; and, be it further 4-8 RESOLVED, That the committee report its findings and 4-9 recommendations to the governor and the legislature by September 1, 4-10 1994, for consideration by the 74th Legislature or at the next 4-11 available opportunity; and, be it further 4-12 RESOLVED, That the committee's proceedings and operations be 4-13 governed by such general rules and policies for joint interim 4-14 committees as the 73rd Legislature may adopt and that such rules 4-15 and policies supersede the provisions of this resolution to the 4-16 extent of any conflict.