By Oliveira                                     H.B. No. 1527

      75R3737 CAG-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the operation and oversight of local workforce

 1-3     development boards.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 2308, Government Code, is

 1-6     amended by adding Sections 2308.270-2308.272 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 2308.270.  RESTRICTIONS ON BOARD COSTS.  (a)  In

 1-8     reimbursing board personnel for travel expenses, a board may not

 1-9     expend funds for travel in excess of the amount of money that may

1-10     be  expended for state personnel under the General Appropriations

1-11     Act or travel regulations adopted by the comptroller, including any

1-12     restrictions on mileage reimbursement, per diem, and lodging

1-13     reimbursement rates.

1-14           (b)  A board may not expend any funds for the purchase of

1-15     alcoholic beverages or entertainment.

1-16           (c)  A board may purchase goods or a service only if the

1-17     board complies with the same provisions for purchasing goods or a

1-18     service that are equivalent to the provisions applying to a state

1-19     agency, including Chapters 2155-2158, Government Code.

1-20           (d)  A board may not spend more than the lesser of the

1-21     following on indirect costs of the board:

1-22                 (1)  20 percent of the board's direct personnel costs;

1-23     or

1-24                 (2)  10 percent of the board's total direct costs.

 2-1           (e)  In this section, "indirect costs" means costs that are

 2-2     not directly attributable to a single action of a board.  The

 2-3     council may further define the term as necessary to assist in the

 2-4     administration of this section.

 2-5           Sec. 2308.271.  RESTRICTIONS ON EMPLOYMENT.  (a)  An officer

 2-6     or employee of a board is subject to the same rules regarding

 2-7     lobbying and other advocacy activities as an officer or employee of

 2-8     any state agency.

 2-9           (b)  The nepotism provisions of Chapter 573, Government Code,

2-10     apply to a board.

2-11           Sec. 2308.272.  SALARY SCHEDULES.  (a)  For each fiscal year,

2-12     a board shall adopt a salary schedule containing a classification

2-13     salary schedule for classified positions and identifying and

2-14     specifying the salaries for positions exempt from the

2-15     classification salary schedule.

2-16           (b)  The salary schedule adopted by the board must be

2-17     identical, for classified positions, to the state salary schedule

2-18     for classified positions as prescribed by the General

2-19     Appropriations Act adopted by the most recent legislature.

2-20           (c)  A salary for a position classified under the salary

2-21     schedule may not exceed the salary approved by the state auditor's

2-22     office and paid by the state for comparable work.

2-23           (d)  A position may only be exempted from the classification

2-24     salary schedule adopted by the board if the exemption and the

2-25     amount of salary paid for the exempt position is within the range

2-26     determined appropriate for exempt positions by  the state auditor.

2-27           (e)  A board shall submit to the council for approval the

 3-1     board's salary schedule, including the salaries of all exempt

 3-2     positions, not later than the 45th day before the date of the

 3-3     beginning of the board's fiscal year.  A board may not implement a

 3-4     salary schedule unless the salary schedule is approved by the

 3-5     council.

 3-6           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 3-7           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-8     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-9     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

3-10     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-11     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.