HBA-TYH C.S.H.B. 156 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 156
By: Wolens
State Affairs
3/17/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

A fundamental premise of the Texas Open Meetings Act is that all meetings
of governmental bodies are open to the public unless an exception is
specified by the Act or permitted by the Texas Constitution.  It is unclear
whether the Act applies to informal meetings, such as staff briefings.  At
least one state board has conducted its deliberations as part of staff
briefings that are closed to the public.  

C.S.H.B.  156  amends the definition of "meeting" to include an informal
"gathering," which is any meeting of a quorum of members of a governmental
body and a third party to discuss public business or public policy over
which the governmental body has supervision or control. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 551.001(4), Government Code, to expand  the
definition of "meeting" to include a gathering: that is conducted by the
governmental body or for which the governmental body is responsible, that
has a quorum of members of the governmental body present, that has been
called by the governmental body, and that the members receive information
from, give information to, ask questions of, or receive questions from any
third person, including an employee of the governmental body, about the
public business or public policy over which the governmental body has
supervision or control. 

SECTION 2.  Repealer: Section 551.075 (Conference With Employees; Closed
Meeting), Government Code.  This section states that a governmental body is
not required to confer with employees of the governmental body in an open
meeting in order to receive information from or question employees. 

SECTION 3.Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.


COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 156 differs from the original by deleting SECTION 2 of the
original, which stated that this chapter does not prohibit a member or
group of members of a governing board of an institution of higher education
from gathering in numbers less than a quorum for purposes of receiving
information from any third person. 

C.S.H.B. 156 redesignates SECTION 3 and SECTION 4 of the original bill to
SECTION 2 and SECTION 3, respectively.