By: Armbrister S.B. No. 1850
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the requirement of public disclosure of information by
1-2 the governing bodies of entities that are parties to certain
1-3 contracts with the state.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 552.003, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 552.003. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-8 (1) "Governmental body":
1-9 (A) means:
1-10 (i) a board, commission, department,
1-11 committee, institution, agency, or office that is within or is
1-12 created by the executive or legislative branch of state government
1-13 and that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members;
1-14 (ii) a county commissioners court in the
1-15 state;
1-16 (iii) a municipal governing body in the
1-17 state;
1-18 (iv) a deliberative body that has
1-19 rulemaking or quasi-judicial power and that is classified as a
1-20 department, agency, or political subdivision of a county or
1-21 municipality;
1-22 (v) a school district board of trustees;
1-23 (vi) a county board of school trustees;
2-1 (vii) a county board of education;
2-2 (viii) the governing board of a special
2-3 district;
2-4 (ix) the governing body of a nonprofit
2-5 corporation organized under Chapter 76, Acts of the 43rd
2-6 Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1933 (Article 1434a, Vernon's
2-7 Texas Civil Statutes), that provides a water supply or wastewater
2-8 service, or both, and is exempt from ad valorem taxation under
2-9 Section 11.30, Tax Code; [and]
2-10 (x) the part, section, or portion of an
2-11 organization, corporation, commission, committee, institution, or
2-12 agency that spends or that is supported in whole or in part by
2-13 public funds; and
2-14 (xi) the governing body of an entity that
2-15 is a party to a contract with the state, a state agency, or a
2-16 political subdivision of the state under which the entity provides
2-17 services or performs duties that constitute certain public
2-18 functions or services; and
2-19 (B) does not include the judiciary.
2-20 (2) "Certain public functions or services" means those
2-21 duties, functions, and services that a public authority would
2-22 provide itself or would perform itself but for a contract with an
2-23 entity to provide the service or perform the duty and:
2-24 (A) the amount of the contract exceeds $1
2-25 million; and
3-1 (B) the contract provides for an operation,
3-2 management, or supervision service.
3-3 The term "certain public functions or services" does not
3-4 include the construction of roads, bridges, dams, or airports or
3-5 functions, services, or duties related to the construction thereof.
3-6 (3) "Manipulation" means the process of modifying,
3-7 reordering, or decoding of information with human intervention.
3-8 (4) [(3)] "Processing" means the execution of a
3-9 sequence of coded instructions by a computer producing a result.
3-10 (5) [(4)] "Programming" means the process of producing
3-11 a sequence of coded instructions that can be executed by a
3-12 computer.
3-13 (6) [(5)] "Public funds" means funds of the state or
3-14 of a governmental subdivision of the state.
3-15 (7) [(6)] "Requestor" means a person who submits a
3-16 request to a governmental body for inspection or copies of public
3-17 information.
3-18 SECTION 2. Section 552.021, Government Code, is amended to
3-19 read as follows:
3-20 Sec. 552.021. AVAILABILITY OF PUBLIC INFORMATION.
3-21 (a) Public information is available to the public at a minimum
3-22 during the normal business hours of the governmental body.
3-23 (b) Information is public information if, under a law or
3-24 ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official
3-25 business, it is collected, assembled, or maintained:
4-1 (1) by a governmental body as defined by Section
4-2 552.003(1)(A)(i)-(x);
4-3 (2) for a governmental body that owns the information
4-4 or has a right of access to it; or
4-5 (3) by a governmental body as defined by Section
4-6 552.003(1)(A)(xi), but only to the extent that the information to
4-7 be obtained from that governmental body directly relates to the
4-8 provision of a service or performance of a duty that constitutes a
4-9 certain public function or service. Public information to be
4-10 obtained from a governmental body as defined by Section
4-11 552.003(1)(A)(xi) does not include financial information, other
4-12 than that directly related to the receipt or expenditure of public
4-13 funds, or proprietary or trade secret information.
4-14 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997. The
4-15 change in law made by this Act applies only to the governing body
4-16 of an entity that is a party to a contract with the state, a state
4-17 agency, or a political subdivision of the state that is entered
4-18 into on or after September 1, 1997. A governing body of an entity
4-19 that is a party to a contract with the state, a state agency, or a
4-20 political subdivision of the state, that is entered into before
4-21 September 1, 1997, is covered by the law in effect when the
4-22 contract was entered into, and the former law is continued in
4-23 effect for that purpose.
4-24 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.