Amend SB 374, in Article 1 of the bill, by inserting the
following sections, appropriately numbered, and renumbering the
subsequent sections of the article accordingly:
      SECTION ____.  Section 22.018, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
      Sec. 22.018.  COOPERATION WITH STATE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE
HEARINGS <DIVISION>.  (a)  The department and the chief
administrative law judge of the State Office of Administrative
Hearings shall adopt a memorandum of understanding under which the
State Office of Administrative Hearings, on behalf of the
department, conducts all contested case hearings authorized or
required by law to be conducted by the department under the
administrative procedure law, <shall establish and maintain a
hearings division that is separate from the legal division to
administer each hearing held under> Chapter 2001, Government Code.
      (b)  The memorandum of understanding shall require the chief
administrative law judge, the department, and the commissioner to
cooperate in connection with a contested case hearing and may
authorize the State Office of Administrative Hearings to perform
any administrative act, including giving of notice, that is
required to be performed by the department or commissioner <Neither
the department nor the department's legal division may directly or
indirectly influence a decision or the decision-making process of
the hearings division>.
      (c)  The memorandum of understanding shall address whether
the administrative law judge who conducts a contested case hearing
for the State Office of Administrative Hearings on behalf of the
department shall:
            (1)  enter the final decision in the case after
completion of the hearing; or
            (2)  propose a decision to the department or the
commissioner for final consideration.
      (d)  The department by interagency contract shall reimburse
the State Office of Administrative Hearings for the costs incurred
in conducting contested case hearings for the department.  The
department may pay an hourly fee for the costs of conducting those
hearings or a fixed annual fee negotiated biennially by the
department and the State Office of Administrative Hearings to
coincide with the department's legislative appropriations request.
      (e)  A reference in law to the hearings division of the
department is considered to be a reference to the State Office of
Administrative Hearings when used in relation to a contested case
hearing under the administrative procedure law, Chapter 2001,
Government Code.
      SECTION ____.  (a)  The change in law made to Section 22.018,
Human Resources Code, by this article relating to a contested case
hearing conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings on
behalf of the Texas Department of Human Services applies only to a
hearing that begins on or after January 1, 2000.  Notwithstanding
any other provision of this article, a hearing that begins before
that date is governed by the law in effect at the time the hearing
begins, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
      (b)  The Commissioner of Human Services and the chief
administrative law judge of the State Office of Administrative
Hearings may agree to transfer contested cases pending before the
Texas Department of Human Services to the State Office of
Administrative Hearings before January 1, 2000.