By: Leedom S.B. No. 128
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the Texas Incentive and Productivity Commission.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Subsection (e), Section 2.002, Texas Incentive
1-4 and Productivity Act (Article 6252-29a, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-5 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-6 (e) An employee whose suggestion results in a net annual
1-7 savings or increase in revenues, including savings or increased
1-8 revenues that result from increased productivity, of $100 or more
1-9 is eligible for a bonus of 10 percent of the net savings or revenue
1-10 increase, up to a maximum award of $5,000. If the suggestion is
1-11 submitted by more than one employee, the bonus shall be divided
1-12 among the employees. An employee whose suggestion results in a net
1-13 annual savings or increase in revenues of less than $100 is not
1-14 eligible for a bonus but is eligible for a certificate of
1-15 appreciation.
1-16 SECTION 2. Subdivision (3), Section 3.001, Texas Incentive
1-17 and Productivity Act (Article 6252-29a, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-18 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-19 (3) "Division" means a unit of a state agency that:
1-20 (A) has an identifiable self-contained budget;
1-21 <or>
1-22 (B) maintains its financial records under an
1-23 accounting system that permits the accurate identification of the
2-1 expenditures and receipts of the unit; or
2-2 (C) consists of a group of employees identified
2-3 by the agency and approved by the commission.
2-4 SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 3.002, Texas Incentive
2-5 and Productivity Act (Article 6252-29a, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-6 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
2-7 (b) The commission shall act on an agency's plan as early as
2-8 practicable after receiving it. The commission may return any plan
2-9 to the executive director who submits it to request additional
2-10 information or clarification of details relating to the plan. The
2-11 commission must approve an agency plan before a state agency may
2-12 apply for a productivity bonus for the agency or a division of the
2-13 agency. The commission shall inform the executive director in
2-14 writing that the plan is approved or rejected not later than the
2-15 30th day after the open meeting at which the plan is considered
2-16 <date the plan is received>.
2-17 SECTION 4. Subsection (c), Section 3.004, Texas Incentive
2-18 and Productivity Act (Article 6252-29a, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-19 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
2-20 (c) The commission shall consider as a legitimate savings a
2-21 reduction in expenditures made possible by:
2-22 (1) reductions in overtime for eligible employees;
2-23 (2) reductions in <elimination of> consultant fees;
2-24 (3) reductions in <elimination of> budgeted positions;
2-25 (4) reductions in <elimination of unnecessary> travel;
3-1 (5) reductions in <elimination of unnecessary>
3-2 printing and mailing;
3-3 (6) reductions in <elimination of> payments for
3-4 <unnecessary> advertising, membership dues, subscriptions, and
3-5 other nonessential outlays of state agency or division funds;
3-6 (7) increased efficiency in use of energy;
3-7 (8) improved office procedures and systems; and
3-8 (9) any other practice or device that the commission
3-9 determines has resulted in verifiable savings.
3-10 SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 3.007, Texas Incentive
3-11 and Productivity Act (Article 6252-29a, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-12 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
3-13 (b) From the funds in the state agency's or division's
3-14 productivity bonus account, the commission shall award to the
3-15 eligible employees of the agency or division an amount not to
3-16 exceed 25 percent of the amount in that account. The awarded
3-17 amount shall be divided and distributed in equal shares to the
3-18 eligible current employees of the agency or division, except that
3-19 those employees who worked part-time or less than 12 months of the
3-20 year shall receive only a pro rata share based on the fraction of
3-21 the year worked. The commission may grant an agency's or a
3-22 division's request not to pay bonuses if a negligible reduction in
3-23 cost has occurred <distributed in equal shares to the eligible
3-24 current employees of the agency or division>. A bonus made to any
3-25 individual employee may not exceed $1,000. <An eligible employee
4-1 who worked in the agency or division for less than the full fiscal
4-2 year or on a part-time basis is entitled to a pro rata share based
4-3 on the fraction of the fiscal year and the average fraction of the
4-4 work week that the employee worked in the agency or division.> An
4-5 eligible employee under this section is an employee who:
4-6 (1) is an hourly, part-time, or temporary employee;
4-7 (2) is a classified employee under the Position
4-8 Classification Act of 1961 (Article 6252-11, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-9 Statutes); or
4-10 (3) performs functions that are equivalent to
4-11 functions performed by a classified employee in other state
4-12 agencies.
4-13 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-18 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-19 passage, and it is so enacted.