By: Truan S.B. No. 383
73R3800 JRD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the existence, composition, and expenses of state
1-3 agency advisory committees.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Title 110A, Revised Statutes, is amended by
1-6 adding Article 6252-33 to read as follows:
1-7 Art. 6252-33. STATE AGENCY ADVISORY COMMITTEES
1-8 Sec. 1. DEFINITION. In this article, "advisory committee"
1-9 means a committee, council, commission, task force, or other entity
1-10 in the executive branch of state government that:
1-11 (1) is not a state agency;
1-12 (2) is created by or under state law; and
1-13 (3) has as its primary function advising a state
1-14 agency.
1-15 Sec. 2. COMPOSITION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEES. Notwithstanding
1-16 other law, an advisory committee must be composed of a reasonable
1-17 number of members not to exceed 24 members. The composition of the
1-18 committee must also provide a balanced representation between:
1-19 (1) industries or occupations regulated or directly
1-20 affected by the advised state agency; and
1-21 (2) consumers of services provided either by the
1-22 advised state agency or by industries or occupations regulated by
1-23 the agency.
1-24 Sec. 3. PRESIDING OFFICER. (a) An advisory committee shall
2-1 select from among its members a presiding officer, unless a
2-2 different procedure for selecting the presiding officer is
2-3 prescribed by other law.
2-4 (b) The presiding officer shall preside over the advisory
2-5 committee and report to the advised state agency.
2-6 Sec. 4. REIMBURSEMENT OF MEMBERS' EXPENSES; APPROPRIATIONS
2-7 PROCESS. (a) Notwithstanding other law, the manner and amount of
2-8 reimbursement for expenses, including travel expenses, of members
2-9 of an advisory committee may be prescribed only:
2-10 (1) by the General Appropriations Act; or
2-11 (2) through the budget execution process under Chapter
2-12 317, Government Code, if the advisory committee is created after it
2-13 is practicable to address the existence of the committee in the
2-14 General Appropriations Act.
2-15 (b) A state agency that is advised by an advisory committee
2-16 must request authority to reimburse the expenses of members of the
2-17 committee through the appropriations or budget execution process,
2-18 as appropriate, if the agency determines that the expenses of
2-19 committee members should be reimbursed. The request must:
2-20 (1) identify the costs related to the advisory
2-21 committee's existence, including the cost of agency staff time
2-22 spent in support of the committee's activities;
2-23 (2) state the reasons the advisory committee should
2-24 continue in existence; and
2-25 (3) identify any other advisory committees created to
2-26 advise the agency that should be consolidated or abolished.
2-27 (c) As part of the appropriations and budget execution
3-1 process, the governor and the Legislative Budget Board shall
3-2 jointly identify advisory committees that should be abolished. The
3-3 comptroller may recommend to the governor and the Legislative
3-4 Budget Board that an advisory committee should be abolished.
3-5 (d) The General Appropriations Act may provide for
3-6 reimbursing the expenses of members of certain advisory committees
3-7 without providing for reimbursing the expenses of members of other
3-8 advisory committees.
3-9 Sec. 5. AGENCY-DEVELOPED STATEMENT OF PURPOSE; REPORTING
3-10 REQUIREMENTS. A state agency that is advised by an advisory
3-11 committee shall adopt rules that:
3-12 (1) state the purpose of the committee; and
3-13 (2) describe the task of the committee and the manner
3-14 in which the committee will report to the agency.
3-15 Sec. 6. AGENCY EVALUATION OF COMMITTEE COSTS AND
3-16 EFFECTIVENESS. A state agency that is advised by an advisory
3-17 committee shall annually evaluate:
3-18 (1) the committee's work;
3-19 (2) the committee's usefulness; and
3-20 (3) the costs related to the committee's existence,
3-21 including the cost of agency staff time spent in support of the
3-22 committee's activities.
3-23 Sec. 7. DURATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEES. A state agency
3-24 that is advised by an advisory committee shall establish by rule a
3-25 date on which the committee will automatically be abolished. The
3-26 advisory committee may continue in existence after that date only
3-27 if the governing body of the agency affirmatively votes to continue
4-1 the committee in existence. This section does not apply to an
4-2 advisory committee that has a specific duration prescribed by
4-3 statute.
4-4 SECTION 2. As soon as possible after the effective date of
4-5 this Act, a state agency that is advised by an advisory committee
4-6 that is not composed in accordance with Section 2, Article 6252-33,
4-7 Revised Statutes, as added by this Act, shall add or subtract
4-8 members of the advisory committee, as appropriate, to bring the
4-9 composition of the committee into compliance with Section 2. If
4-10 the law, order, or resolution that created the advisory committee
4-11 provided that more than one appointing authority would appoint a
4-12 stated number of members to the committee, the agency shall
4-13 preserve the ratio of members appointed by the different appointing
4-14 authorities. The agency may subtract members of an advisory
4-15 committee as necessary to bring its composition into compliance
4-16 with Section 2 by agreement among the affected members, by lot, or
4-17 by some other reasonable method.
4-18 SECTION 3. The following advisory entities are abolished:
4-19 (1) the Transportation Audit Committee, created by
4-20 Chapter 23, Acts of the 68th Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1984
4-21 (Article 6663d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
4-22 (2) the Campaign Finance Reform Task Force, created by
4-23 executive order;
4-24 (3) the Committee on Water Resources, created by
4-25 executive order;
4-26 (4) the Health Maintenance Organization Advisory
4-27 Committee to the Texas Department of Health;
5-1 (5) the Criminal Justice Education Project Advisory
5-2 Committee, created by executive order;
5-3 (6) the Task Force on Public Utility Regulation,
5-4 created by executive order;
5-5 (7) the Task Force on Waste Management Policy, created
5-6 under the authority of legislative resolutions;
5-7 (8) the Texas Science and Technology Council, created
5-8 by executive order;
5-9 (9) the State Complete Count Census Committee, created
5-10 by executive order;
5-11 (10) the Governor's Welfare Reform Task Force, created
5-12 by executive order; and
5-13 (11) the Design Advisory Panel to the General Services
5-14 Commission created by Section 5.20(b), State Purchasing and General
5-15 Services Act (Article 601b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
5-16 SECTION 4. The following laws are repealed:
5-17 (1) Section 5.20(b), State Purchasing and General
5-18 Services Act (Article 601b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); and
5-19 (2) Chapter 23, Acts of the 68th Legislature, 2nd
5-20 Called Session, 1984 (Article 6663d, Vernon's Texas Civil
5-21 Statutes).
5-22 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
5-23 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
5-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.