By Alvarado, Greenberg                                H.B. No. 3475

         75R8554 JRD-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to facilitating the organization and availability of

 1-3     government information.

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

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 441.053, Government Code, is amended by

 1-6     amending Subsection (j) and adding Subsection (k) to read as

 1-7     follows:

 1-8           (j)  The council shall categorize state agency programs and

 1-9     telephone numbers by subject matter as well as by agency. State

1-10     agencies shall cooperate with the council by providing the council

1-11     with the information it needs to perform this function.

1-12           (k)  In this section, "member agency" means each state

1-13     officer who is a member of the council or an agency that has a

1-14     representative who is a member of the council.

1-15           SECTION 2.  Section 3.309, Public Utility Regulatory Act of

1-16     1995 (Article 1446c-0, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended

1-17     to read as follows:

1-18           Sec. 3.309.  PUBLICATION OF STATE AGENCY AND STATE PUBLIC

1-19     SERVICE NUMBERS.  (a)  A private for-profit publisher of a

1-20     residential telephone directory that is distributed to the public

1-21     at minimal or no cost shall include in the directory a listing of

1-22     any toll-free and local telephone numbers of state agencies and

1-23     state public services and of each state elected official who

1-24     represents all or part of the geographical area for which the

 2-1     directory contains listings.

 2-2           (b)  The listing required by this section must be clearly

 2-3     identified and must be located or clearly referenced at the front

 2-4     of the directory before the main listing of residential and

 2-5     business telephone numbers.  [The listing is not required to exceed

 2-6     a length equivalent to two 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch pages,

 2-7     single-spaced in eight-point type.]

 2-8           (c)  The commission may adopt rules to implement this

 2-9     section, including rules specifying the format of the listing and

2-10     criteria for inclusion of agencies, services, and officials. The

2-11     commission's rules must require a publisher to list the telephone

2-12     number for state government information and to list telephone

2-13     numbers alphabetically by the subject matter of agency programs as

2-14     well as alphabetically by agency.  The commission, with the

2-15     cooperation of other state agencies, shall compile relevant

2-16     information to ensure accuracy of information in the listing and

2-17     shall provide the information to a telecommunications utility or

2-18     telephone directory publisher within a reasonable time after a

2-19     request by the utility or publisher.

2-20           (d)  The General Services Commission shall cooperate with the

2-21     commission and with publishers to ensure that the subject matter

2-22     listings of programs and telephone numbers in the telephone

2-23     directories is consistent with the categorization developed by the

2-24     Records Management Interagency Coordinating Council under Section

2-25     441.053, Government Code.

2-26           SECTION 3.  Section 2170.005, Government Code, is amended by

2-27     adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

 3-1           (c)  Telephone directories published by the commission under

 3-2     this section and Section 2170.059 must be revised regularly and

 3-3     must list state telephone numbers alphabetically by the subject

 3-4     matter of agency programs as well as alphabetically by agency. The

 3-5     subject matter listing of programs and telephone numbers in the

 3-6     telephone directories must be consistent with the categorization

 3-7     developed by the Records Management Interagency Coordinating

 3-8     Council under Section 441.053.  The commission shall revise

 3-9     directory information it makes available on-line as often as it

3-10     revises the directory information given to the commission's

3-11     telephone operators who provide directory assistance to the public.

3-12           SECTION 4.  The Records Management Interagency Coordinating

3-13     Council shall form a research group to study:

3-14                 (1)  the functional requirements for keeping and

3-15     archiving records in an electronic format;

3-16                 (2)  possible cost-effective guidelines for using

3-17     records in an electronic format;

3-18                 (3)  a possible policy for state government's archiving

3-19     of records in an electronic format;

3-20                 (4)  possible standards and policies for formatting

3-21     information in an electronic format; and

3-22                 (5)  feasible ways to develop a searchable database

3-23     that contains state agency documents in an electronic format.

3-24           SECTION 5.  The Records Management Interagency Coordinating

3-25     Council shall complete its initial categorization of programs and

3-26     telephone numbers by subject matter under Section 441.053(j),

3-27     Government Code, as amended by this Act, not later than January 1,

 4-1     1999.

 4-2           SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 4-3           SECTION 7.  The importance of this legislation and the

 4-4     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 4-5     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 4-6     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 4-7     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.