By Kubiak H.B. No. 3434 75R3490 JRD-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to governmental use of information resources, including 1-3 the powers and duties of the Department of Information Resources. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2054.051, Government Code, is amended by 1-6 adding Subsection (f) to read as follows: 1-7 (f) The department shall develop guidelines for state 1-8 agencies to follow when deciding whether to lease or to purchase 1-9 information resources technologies. 1-10 SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 2054, Government Code, is 1-11 amended by adding Section 2054.060 to read as follows: 1-12 Sec. 2054.060. DEPARTMENT APPROVAL OF CERTAIN PURCHASES. 1-13 Notwithstanding other law, a state agency may not spend 1-14 appropriated money to purchase information resources or to purchase 1-15 maintenance services for information resources unless the 1-16 department has approved the purchase. 1-17 SECTION 3. Section 2054.075, Government Code, is amended to 1-18 read as follows: 1-19 Sec. 2054.075. COOPERATION WITH INFORMATION RESOURCES 1-20 MANAGER. (a) Each state agency shall cooperate as necessary with 1-21 its information resources manager to enable that individual to 1-22 perform the manager's duties. 1-23 (b) Each state agency shall provide that its information 1-24 resources manager is part of the agency's executive management and 2-1 reports directly to a person with a title functionally equivalent 2-2 to executive director or deputy executive director. Each state 2-3 agency shall report to the department the extent and results of its 2-4 compliance with this subsection, and the department shall report 2-5 the extent and results of state agencies' compliance to the 2-6 legislature. 2-7 SECTION 4. Section 2054.076, Government Code, is amended to 2-8 read as follows: 2-9 Sec. 2054.076. INITIAL AND CONTINUING EDUCATION. (a) The 2-10 department shall provide mandatory guidelines to state agencies 2-11 regarding the initial and continuing education requirements needed 2-12 for information resources managers. 2-13 (b) An individual who is appointed the information resources 2-14 manager of a state agency before September 1, 1992, is exempt from 2-15 the requirements of the department regarding initial education 2-16 needed for that position. 2-17 (c) The department may provide educational materials and 2-18 seminars for state agencies, state agency financial officers, and 2-19 information resources managers. 2-20 (d) The department shall conduct seminars and briefings for 2-21 information resources managers and state agency financial officers 2-22 that address information resources technologies issues that may 2-23 arise in the appropriations process. 2-24 SECTION 5. Section 2054.098(a), Government Code, is amended 2-25 to read as follows: 2-26 (a) The department shall inform a state agency whether a 2-27 plan or plan amendment is approved or disapproved by sending a 3-1 letter to the agency's information resources manager, its executive 3-2 director, and each member of its governing body. If a plan is 3-3 disapproved, the department shall provide to the state agency in 3-4 writing notice of and the reasons for disapproval and the changes 3-5 that are necessary for the plan's approval. 3-6 SECTION 6. Subchapter E, Chapter 2054, Government Code, is 3-7 amended by adding Section 2054.0985 to read as follows: 3-8 Sec. 2054.0985. REQUIREMENT FOR PROJECT APPROPRIATIONS. The 3-9 legislature may not appropriate money to a state agency for an 3-10 agency project unless the project is described in the agency's 3-11 approved agency strategic plan. 3-12 SECTION 7. Section 2054.101, Government Code, is amended by 3-13 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows: 3-14 (c) The department shall instruct state agencies to include 3-15 in their operating plans the extent to which proposed new systems 3-16 or substantial modifications to existing systems allow for the 3-17 sharing of information electronically within and among agencies. 3-18 The department may require agencies that acquire or modify systems 3-19 to allow for the sharing of information electronically within and 3-20 among agencies when feasible. 3-21 SECTION 8. Subchapter E, Chapter 2054, Government Code, is 3-22 amended by adding Section 2054.1011 to read as follows: 3-23 Sec. 2054.1011. INFORMATION COLLECTING; BIENNIAL OPERATING 3-24 PLAN. (a) Each state agency periodically shall analyze the 3-25 information it collects from individuals, businesses, and 3-26 government and determine whether the same information is collected 3-27 by more than one unit of the agency or by another state or local 4-1 governmental entity. Each agency shall also periodically submit to 4-2 a sample of the persons from whom it collects information questions 4-3 designed to assist a determination of whether the information can 4-4 feasibly be collected in a more efficient, more effective, or less 4-5 onerous way. Using the responses to the questions and the results 4-6 of its analyses, the agency shall also analyze whether the forms 4-7 the agency uses to collect information should be revised, 4-8 simplified, reduced to one page, used by another state or local 4-9 governmental entity, or otherwise altered to reflect the 4-10 information collecting practices of another state or local 4-11 governmental entity. The agency shall summarize these analyses in 4-12 the agency's biennial operating plan. 4-13 (b) Each state agency shall indicate in its biennial 4-14 operating plan the extent to which it is coordinating its 4-15 collection of information with other state and local governmental 4-16 entities. 4-17 SECTION 9. Section 2054.102, Government Code, is amended to 4-18 read as follows: 4-19 Sec. 2054.102. EVALUATION OF OPERATING PLANS BY DEPARTMENT. 4-20 (a) The department shall specify procedures for the submission, 4-21 review, approval, and disapproval of plans and amendments, 4-22 including procedures for review or reconsideration of the 4-23 department's disapproval of a plan or plan amendment. 4-24 (b) The department shall inform a state agency whether a 4-25 plan or plan amendment is approved or disapproved by sending a 4-26 letter to the agency's information resources manager, its executive 4-27 director, and each member of its governing body. 5-1 SECTION 10. Subchapter E, Chapter 2054, Government Code, is 5-2 amended by adding Section 2054.105 to read as follows: 5-3 Sec. 2054.105. NOTIFICATION OF NONCOMPLIANCE. The 5-4 department shall notify the governor, the state auditor, and the 5-5 Legislative Budget Board when an agency is not complying with a 5-6 provision of this subchapter. 5-7 SECTION 11. Subchapter F, Chapter 2054, Government Code, is 5-8 amended by adding Sections 2054.120-2054.124 to read as follows: 5-9 Sec. 2054.120. PROJECT PLANNING, MONITORING, AND EVALUATION. 5-10 (a) A state agency that proposes to spend appropriated money for a 5-11 project shall first define in writing the expected results of the 5-12 project. 5-13 (b) The state agency shall monitor costs while the project 5-14 is developed and implemented. 5-15 (c) The department shall monitor and independently evaluate 5-16 the planning and development of the project and periodically inform 5-17 the legislative audit committee of the department's evaluation. 5-18 (d) After the project is implemented, the state agency shall 5-19 evaluate in writing the extent to which the expected benefits of 5-20 the project were achieved. The agency shall send its evaluation and 5-21 supporting documentation to the state auditor. The state auditor 5-22 shall review the evaluation for validity and inform the legislative 5-23 audit committee of the auditor's determination. 5-24 Sec. 2054.121. CONTRACT AMENDMENTS. (a) A state agency 5-25 shall analyze a proposed amendment to an information resources or 5-26 information resources technologies contract before agreeing to the 5-27 amendment to determine if the contract amendment is advantageous 6-1 for the agency. 6-2 (b) If the state agency does not possess the necessary 6-3 expertise to analyze the amendment, the agency shall contract with 6-4 another agency or with a private consultant to analyze the 6-5 amendment. Section 2054.119 does not apply to a contract with 6-6 another agency under this subsection, and an agency shall give 6-7 preference to another agency that offers to analyze the amendment 6-8 if the department states that the other agency has the necessary 6-9 expertise. 6-10 (c) Before a state agency agrees to a contract amendment for 6-11 a project that will increase the cost of the project by at least 10 6-12 percent: 6-13 (1) the department must approve the amendment; and 6-14 (2) the state agency must inform the governor, 6-15 lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, 6-16 senate finance committee, and house appropriations committee of the 6-17 proposed amendment. 6-18 Sec. 2054.122. INTERAGENCY AND OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL 6-19 ELECTRONIC SHARING OF INFORMATION. (a) All state agencies within 6-20 a functional area of state government established under Section 6-21 2056.006 shall investigate together the possibilities of sharing 6-22 information, to the extent allowed by other law, among the agencies 6-23 electronically. Agencies within a functional area shall create an 6-24 interagency work group to create common standards and conventions 6-25 for sharing information electronically under appropriate controls 6-26 for privacy, security, accuracy, and, when applicable, 6-27 confidentiality. 7-1 (b) The department shall assist the interagency work groups 7-2 and when appropriate approve in accordance with Section 2054.051(e) 7-3 the provisions that a work group makes for sharing information 7-4 under this section. 7-5 (c) A state agency with an annual operating budget of more 7-6 than $100 million, and any other state agency at the direction of 7-7 the governor, shall consult counties, municipalities, and regional 7-8 councils of government about ways to share information relating to 7-9 economic development, the provision of social services, education 7-10 and training, and public safety. 7-11 (d) A state agency or agencies that propose a project 7-12 related to the interagency or intergovernmental sharing of 7-13 information must show, in the agency's or agencies' strategic plans 7-14 and operating plans under Subchapter E, why the project provides an 7-15 efficient and effective way to perform a needed function. 7-16 Sec. 2054.123. INFORMATION COLLECTING. (a) Each state 7-17 agency shall coordinate its collection of information with other 7-18 state and local governmental entities to the extent it is feasible 7-19 to do so and allowed by other law, under appropriate controls for 7-20 the privacy, security, accuracy, and, when applicable, 7-21 confidentiality of the information. 7-22 (b) Each state agency shall when feasible and appropriate 7-23 revise, simplify, reduce to one page, or otherwise alter the forms 7-24 it uses to collect information to reflect the information 7-25 collecting practices of another state or local governmental entity. 7-26 Each state agency shall when feasible and appropriate allow another 7-27 state or local governmental entity to use the agency's form or the 8-1 information that the agency collects using the form, under 8-2 appropriate controls for the privacy, security, accuracy, and, when 8-3 applicable, confidentiality of the information. 8-4 (c) Each state agency shall when appropriate and feasible 8-5 spend at least 15 percent of the money it spends collecting 8-6 information by buying the information from an entity that has 8-7 already collected it or by contracting for information collection 8-8 services outside the agency, under appropriate controls for the 8-9 privacy, security, accuracy, and, when applicable, confidentiality 8-10 of the information. 8-11 Sec. 2054.124. LEASING EXCESS CAPACITY. A state agency 8-12 shall evaluate the extent to which it is using the full capacity of 8-13 its information systems. A state agency that uses less than 60 8-14 percent of the capacity of one of its information systems shall 8-15 consider leasing the excess capacity to another state or local 8-16 governmental entity. 8-17 SECTION 12. The Department of Information Resources shall 8-18 study the state's current system of disposing of surplus and 8-19 salvage information resources technologies and report the results 8-20 of its study, including its recommendations for any needed changes 8-21 in law, to the legislature and the General Services Commission not 8-22 later than November 1, 1998. 8-23 SECTION 13. (a) Each state agency shall designate an agency 8-24 officer or employee who is responsible for coordinating the 8-25 agency's response to the problem that the approach of the year 2000 8-26 presents for certain information resources technologies. The 8-27 Department of Information Resources and the state auditor shall 9-1 coordinate the state agencies' response to the problem and shall 9-2 report periodically to the senate finance committee and the house 9-3 appropriations committee on the status of the state's response and 9-4 the estimated cost to address the problem. 9-5 (b) All state agency purchases of information resources 9-6 technologies must reasonably take into account the approach of the 9-7 year 2000. 9-8 SECTION 14. (a) The Department of Information Resources 9-9 shall study how best to create a nonprofit business entity that 9-10 could contract both with the state and with private entities and 9-11 that could perform certain public functions for the state, such as 9-12 looking at the state's future information resources technologies 9-13 needs for the purposes of promoting the state's economic 9-14 development and improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of 9-15 the state's delivery of government services or government 9-16 information, including, when appropriate, the reengineering of the 9-17 service delivery systems. The department's study shall include an 9-18 evaluation of how the state could pay the nonprofit entity to solve 9-19 a problem for state government and how the state could then 9-20 appropriately receive royalties when the solution the state paid 9-21 for is marketed to other entities. The department shall report the 9-22 results of its study to the governor and to the Legislative Budget 9-23 Board not later than January 30, 1998. 9-24 (b) If the Department of Information Resources determines 9-25 that an entity with the characteristics described by Subsection (a) 9-26 of this section could be created by the state, including the 9-27 characteristic that would allow the state to share royalties when a 10-1 solution the state paid to develop is marketed, the department may 10-2 create the entity in accordance with current law and may contract 10-3 with the entity to perform technical functions for the department 10-4 that the department is authorized to perform. 10-5 SECTION 15. (a) The Health and Human Services Commission, 10-6 all agencies that are health and human services agencies under 10-7 Chapter 531, Government Code, the Texas Department of Criminal 10-8 Justice, and the Texas Youth Commission shall all work together to 10-9 design a common form that each agency shall use to gather basic 10-10 demographic information about the agency's clients and service 10-11 recipients and about persons regulated by the agency. The agencies 10-12 shall design the form so that it can be entered cost-effectively 10-13 into an electronic database. The agencies shall design the database 10-14 so that the other agencies can easily search the database before 10-15 collecting demographic information about a person and so that the 10-16 information can be shared among the agencies electronically to the 10-17 extent allowed by other law. Unless required by other law, the 10-18 agencies may not recollect information on the form that one of the 10-19 agencies has collected and entered into the database. 10-20 (b) The agencies shall comply with all legal requirements 10-21 relating to the privacy, security, confidentiality, and accuracy of 10-22 the information. The agencies shall identify any state or federal 10-23 legal impediments to the efficient and effective collection and 10-24 sharing of demographic information in accordance with this section 10-25 and report the impediments to the legislature not later than 10-26 November 1, 1998. 10-27 (c) The agencies shall begin using the form and collecting 11-1 the basic demographic information on the form in accordance with 11-2 this section not later than September 1, 1998, except to the extent 11-3 that a legal impediment makes it impossible to do so. 11-4 SECTION 16. (a) The Public Utility Commission of Texas, the 11-5 Railroad Commission of Texas, the Texas Natural Resource 11-6 Conservation Commission, the General Land Office, and the secretary 11-7 of state shall all work together to design a common form that each 11-8 agency shall use to gather basic demographic information about the 11-9 agency's clients and service recipients and about persons regulated 11-10 by the agency. The agencies shall design the form so that it can be 11-11 entered cost-effectively into an electronic database. The agencies 11-12 shall design the database so that the other agencies can easily 11-13 search the database before collecting demographic information about 11-14 a person and so that the information can be shared among the 11-15 agencies electronically to the extent allowed by other law. Unless 11-16 required by other law, the agencies may not recollect information 11-17 on the form that one of the agencies has collected and entered into 11-18 the database. 11-19 (b) The agencies shall comply with all legal requirements 11-20 relating to the privacy, security, confidentiality, and accuracy of 11-21 the information. The agencies shall identify any state or federal 11-22 legal impediments to the efficient and effective collection and 11-23 sharing of demographic information in accordance with this section 11-24 and report the impediments to the legislature not later than 11-25 November 1, 1998. 11-26 (c) The agencies shall begin using the form and collecting 11-27 the basic demographic information on the form in accordance with 12-1 this section not later than September 1, 1998, except to the extent 12-2 that a legal impediment makes it impossible to do so. 12-3 SECTION 17. (a) The Texas Department of Commerce shall 12-4 obtain the right to use existing software that is affordable and 12-5 has the following characteristics: 12-6 (1) it contains information and tools that a local 12-7 community can use to promote economic development; 12-8 (2) it contains information and tools that a business, 12-9 including a small or disadvantaged business, can use to make 12-10 decisions about remaining, expanding, or relocating in a local 12-11 community; 12-12 (3) it contains information and tools that investors 12-13 can use to make decisions about investing in a local community; and 12-14 (4) it contains information and tools that 12-15 policymakers can use to examine the ways in which federal, state, 12-16 and local economic development money is or could be used in a local 12-17 community. 12-18 (b) The Texas Department of Commerce shall select five rural 12-19 and three major urban communities to participate in a pilot project 12-20 during the state fiscal year ending August 31, 1998, to demonstrate 12-21 the effectiveness and feasibility of using the software for 12-22 economic purposes. A selected community must pay two-thirds of the 12-23 costs of obtaining and operating the software for the community. 12-24 SECTION 18. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997. 12-25 SECTION 19. The importance of this legislation and the 12-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 12-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 13-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 13-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.