By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 897
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to facilitating the organization and availability of
1-2 government information.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 441.053, Government Code, is amended by
1-5 amending Subsection (j) and adding Subsection (k) to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 (j) The council shall categorize state agency programs and
1-8 telephone numbers by subject matter as well as by agency. State
1-9 agencies shall cooperate with the council by providing the council
1-10 with the information it needs to perform this function.
1-11 (k) In this section, "member agency" means each state
1-12 officer who is a member of the council or an agency that has a
1-13 representative who is a member of the council.
1-14 SECTION 2. Section 3.309, Public Utility Regulatory Act of
1-15 1995 (Article 1446c-0, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended
1-16 to read as follows:
1-17 Sec. 3.309. PUBLICATION OF STATE AGENCY AND STATE PUBLIC
1-18 SERVICE NUMBERS. (a) A private for-profit publisher of a
1-19 residential telephone directory that is distributed to the public
1-20 at minimal or no cost shall include in the directory a listing of
1-21 any toll-free and local telephone numbers of state agencies and
1-22 state public services and of each state elected official who
1-23 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 are consistent with the categorization developed by the
2-24 Records Management Interagency Coordinating Council under Section
2-25 441.053, Government Code.
3-1 SECTION 3. Section 2170.005, Government Code, is amended by
3-2 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
3-3 (c) Telephone directories published by the commission under
3-4 this section and Section 2170.059 must be revised regularly and
3-5 must list state telephone numbers alphabetically by the subject
3-6 matter of agency programs as well as alphabetically by agency. The
3-7 subject matter listing of programs and telephone numbers in the
3-8 telephone directories must be consistent with the categorization
3-9 developed by the Records Management Interagency Coordinating
3-10 Council under Section 441.053. The commission may authorize, under
3-11 terms considered appropriate by the commission, a yellow pages
3-12 advertising section in the directories to recover development,
3-13 publication, and distribution costs of the directories.
3-14 SECTION 4. The Records Management Interagency Coordinating
3-15 Council shall form a research group to study:
3-16 (1) the functional requirements for keeping and
3-17 archiving records in an electronic format;
3-18 (2) possible cost-effective guidelines for using
3-19 records in an electronic format;
3-20 (3) a possible policy for state government's archiving
3-21 of records in an electronic format;
3-22 (4) possible standards and policies for formatting
3-23 information in an electronic format; and
3-24 (5) feasible ways to develop a searchable database
3-25 that contains state agency documents in an electronic format.
4-1 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-2 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.