HBA-TYH H.B. 1190 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1190 By: Eiland State Affairs 2/17/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, members of the legislature who use laptop computers for both personal and legislative purposes must use two separate computers. This can be cumbersome and may lead to ethical and legal problems. Meanwhile, no mechanism is in place to allow members of the legislature to pay the state for personal use of state-owned laptops. H.B. 1190 requires state agencies and offices that provide data-processing or computer services to the legislature to establish procedures that would allow legislators to be charged a fee to use those services for personal use. 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 Subchapter B, Chapter 301, Government Code, by adding Section 301.033, as follows: Sec. 301.033. USE OF DATA-PROCESSING FACILITIES. (a) Requires an office or agency that provides data-processing or computer services or facilities to individual members of the legislature for official use to establish procedures by which a member may use the services or facilities for personal use if that personal use is the same or similar to the official uses for which the services or facilities are provided, if it does not require substantial expansion or modification of the services or facilities or substantial additional services to support the personal use, and if it does not interfere with the official use of the services or facilities. (b) Provides that the procedures must include a method for maintaining a permanent record of the member's personal use of the services or facilities and require the member to pay or reimburse the office or agency for all costs incurred in connection with the member's personal use of the services or facilities. (c) Provides that information contained in the records of the member's private use of the services or facilities is confidential, but authorizes the office or agency providing the services or facilities and the state auditor to examine that information to determine compliance with this section. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.