SRC-TNM S.B. 1240 75(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center S.B. 1240 By: West State Affairs 4-16-97 As Filed DIGEST Currently, state agencies contract for printing, freight delivery, cleaning, and professional expertise in areas such as financial advising, engineering, and advertising. In fiscal 1995, the State of Texas spent more than $11.8 billion on a variety of services. State agencies also purchase for their clients a variety of health and human services including medical care, nursing home care, adult day care, community-based residential care for children, substance abuse counseling, and mental health and mental retardation services. The state spent $9.2 billion on these types of client services, and more than 22 state agencies purchased such services from nearly 75,000 services providers in fiscal 1995. Client services differ from other services the state buys in that the recipient or consumer of these services is not only the state, but individual clients. S.B. 1240 would create a working group to coordinate the purchase of client services and direct the Health and Human Services Commission to develop rules to ensure consistent procurement and monitoring. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 1240 outlines provisions regarding the state's purchasing of services for state agency clients. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY Rulemaking authority is granted to the Health and Human Services Commission and other state agencies under SECTION 1 (Section 531.0275(a), Government Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 531B, Government Code, as follows: Sec. 531.0275. PURCHASING CLIENT SERVICES. Requires the Health and Human Services Commission (commission) to coordinate and adopt rules to govern the purchasing by state agencies of services for their clients, including agencies that are not health and human services agencies. Provides that the commission's rules adopted under this section apply directly to health and human services agencies. Requires other state agencies to adopt rules governing purchases of services for their clients that are consistent with their rules. Requires the commission's rules to ensure consistent practices in the procurement of services for clients, efficient and effective monitoring of contract providers, and improved accountability for contract providers. Sets forth requirements for the commission's rules. SECTION 2. Amends Chapter 2101C, by adding Section 2101.040, as follows: Sec. 2101.040. INFORMATION ON SERVICES PURCHASED FOR AGENCY CLIENTS. Requires the comptroller to use the uniform statewide accounting system to compile and make available to the commission useful information about state agencies' purchases of services for their clients. Requires the commission to indicate to the comptroller the information that the commission needs to monitor, improve, and coordinate those purchases. SECTION 3. Requires the commission to preside over a working group to research the laws that govern the purchasing of services by state agencies for their clients and to develop recommendations on the feasibility and advisability of merging those laws into a single comprehensive statute or otherwise clarifying the law that governs those purchases. Provides that the working group is composed of representatives of the commission, the governor's office, the General Services Commission, the comptroller, the state auditor, the Texas Legislative Council, and each agency that in the opinion of the commission spends a significant amount of money purchasing services for its clients. Requires the working group to report its findings and recommendations to the legislature not later than November 1, 1998. Provides that the working group is abolished June 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Requires the comptroller, with the assistance of the commission, to study the costs and benefits of developing a statewide contract management information system for managing the purchasing of services by state agencies for their clients. Requires the comptroller and the commission to examine the extent to which the uniform statewide accounting system could feasibly be modified to serve as the contract management information system, whether it is feasible to use the information in the uniform statewide accounting system to create a separate contract management information system, and whether it would be cost effective to request proposals from private vendors to create an entirely new contract management information system as part of the study. Requires the comptroller to report the findings and conclusions of the study to the legislature not later than October 1, 1998. SECTION 5. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.