Amend CSSB 174 by adding the following SECTION to the bill
and renumbering the remaining SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
      SECTION ____.  Chapter 391, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 391.0117 to read as follows:
      Sec. 391.0117.  SALARY SCHEDULES.  (a)  For each fiscal year,
a commission shall adopt a salary schedule containing a
classification salary schedule for classified positions and
identifying and specifying the salaries for positions exempt from
the classification salary schedule.
      (b)  The salary schedule adopted by the commission may not
exceed, for classified positions, the state salary schedule for
classified positions as prescribed by the General Appropriations
Act adopted by the most recent legislature.  A commission may adopt
a salary schedule that is less than the state salary schedule.
      (c)  A salary for a position classified under the salary
schedule may not exceed the state salary that has been approved by
the state auditor's office and paid by the state for comparable
work.
      (d)  A position may only be exempted from the classification
salary schedule adopted by the commission if the exemption and the
amount of salary paid for the exempt position is within the range
determined appropriate for state exempt positions by the state
auditor.
      (e)  A commission shall submit to the governor the
commission's salary schedule, including the salaries of all exempt
positions, not later than the 45th day before the date of the
beginning of the commission's fiscal year.  If the governor objects
to a commission's salary schedule or a portion of the schedule, the
portion of the schedule that the governor objects to may not go
into effect until revisions or explanations are given that are
satisfactory to the governor and the governor approves that portion
of the schedule.
      (f)  This section does not apply to a commission if the most
populous county that is a member of the commission has an actual
average weekly wage that exceeds the state actual average weekly
wage by 20 percent or more for the previous year as determined by
the Texas Workforce Commission in its County Employment and Wage
Information Report.