By Maxey H.B. No. 2283
76R3487 JRD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the establishment of a common information center for
1-3 state government through which public inquiries can be transferred
1-4 to the appropriate state governmental entity and frequently
1-5 requested information can be forwarded.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Chapter 2170, Government Code, is amended by
1-8 adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
1-9 SUBCHAPTER C. ACCESS TEXAS INFORMATION CENTER
1-10 Sec. 2170.101. INFORMATION CENTER. (a) The commission
1-11 shall staff and operate an information center for state government.
1-12 The information center is in addition to and does not supplant
1-13 information centers operated by other state governmental entities.
1-14 (b) The center shall establish and the commission shall
1-15 widely publicize a toll-free telephone number to receive public
1-16 inquiries.
1-17 (c) The center shall remain continuously open to accept
1-18 telephone calls and shall:
1-19 (1) transfer callers as necessary to the appropriate
1-20 state governmental entity;
1-21 (2) answer frequently asked questions about state
1-22 government and state government services and activities; and
1-23 (3) send commonly requested information by facsimile
1-24 transmission or electronic mail to persons requesting the
2-1 information.
2-2 (d) The commission shall establish, maintain, and keep
2-3 current an electronic database. The commission shall train
2-4 employees of the center to use the electronic database in
2-5 performing their duties. The database must contain:
2-6 (1) the local and the toll-free telephone numbers of
2-7 each state governmental entity, indexed by:
2-8 (A) the names of the state governmental
2-9 entities; and
2-10 (B) subject matter, according to the types of
2-11 services provided by the state and according to other types of
2-12 state government activities;
2-13 (2) the business telephone number of each state
2-14 officer and employee; and
2-15 (3) information related to frequently asked questions
2-16 about the services provided by and other activities of state
2-17 government.
2-18 (e) The commission shall establish and maintain a generally
2-19 accessible Internet site through which members of the public may,
2-20 to the extent practical, access information in the center's
2-21 electronic database.
2-22 (f) The commission may recover the costs of developing and
2-23 operating the center through interagency contracts. The commission
2-24 may, after August 31, 2001, recover the costs of operating the
2-25 center by charging state governmental entities a fee based on the
2-26 amount of services the center provides to the public on behalf of
2-27 an entity, if the commission does not receive a direct
3-1 appropriation to operate the center.
3-2 Sec. 2170.102. INDEPENDENT POLICY BOARD; COMPOSITION,
3-3 POWERS, AND DUTIES. (a) The commission administers the center and
3-4 employs the staff of the center. Policy for the center is
3-5 established by an independent Access Texas policy board.
3-6 (b) The board is composed of nine voting members. Three
3-7 members are appointed by the governor, one of whom must have
3-8 expertise regarding information centers, one of whom must have
3-9 expertise in telecommunications, and one of whom must represent the
3-10 general public. None of the governor's appointees may be employed
3-11 by government. Six members are voting ex officio members. The
3-12 voting ex officio members are the governing officer or the
3-13 presiding officer of the governing body of the following state
3-14 offices and agencies, or a designee of the governing officer or
3-15 presiding officer who must be an employee of the represented office
3-16 or agency:
3-17 (1) the commission;
3-18 (2) the comptroller's office;
3-19 (3) the Department of Information Resources;
3-20 (4) the Health and Human Services Commission;
3-21 (5) the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; and
3-22 (6) the Texas Workforce Commission.
3-23 (c) The members of the board appointed by the governor serve
3-24 staggered six-year terms with the term of one member expiring
3-25 February 1 of each odd-numbered year. The governor may appoint
3-26 additional nonvoting advisory members to the board to serve at the
3-27 will of the governor if the governor considers that the nonvoting
4-1 advisory members possess expertise or represent a viewpoint that
4-2 will benefit the board.
4-3 (d) The board may accept gifts and grants for purposes
4-4 related to the development or operation of the center.
4-5 (e) The board by rule shall establish policy for the
4-6 development and operation of the information center, of the
4-7 electronic database, and of the Internet site. The commission shall
4-8 provide the board with access to all information relating to the
4-9 development and operation of the information center, electronic
4-10 database, and Internet site.
4-11 (f) The board shall establish standards for evaluating the
4-12 development and operation of the information center, electronic
4-13 database, and Internet site based on standards for similar
4-14 activities in the private sector.
4-15 Sec. 2170.103. BOARD PROCEDURES AND OPERATIONS. (a) The
4-16 governor shall appoint the presiding officer of the board from
4-17 among the voting members who are appointed by the governor.
4-18 (b) The board shall meet at the call of the presiding
4-19 officer or as provided by procedural rules adopted by the board.
4-20 (c) The board is subject to the open meetings law, Chapter
4-21 551, the open records law, Chapter 552, and the administrative
4-22 procedure law, Chapter 2001. The executive director and staff of
4-23 the commission under the direction of the board shall perform the
4-24 ministerial duties required for compliance with those laws. The
4-25 board is not an advisory committee.
4-26 (d) Ex officio members of the board receive no additional
4-27 compensation for service on the board, and service on the board is
5-1 considered a duty of their underlying state office or employment
5-2 for purposes that include receiving reimbursement for expenses
5-3 related to service on the board. Voting and nonvoting members of
5-4 the board appointed by the governor are not entitled to
5-5 compensation for service on the board but are entitled to
5-6 reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the
5-7 performance of duties as a member of the board, subject to any
5-8 applicable limitation on reimbursement prescribed by the General
5-9 Appropriations Act. The board may receive an appropriation for its
5-10 expenses, including for the reimbursement of the actual and
5-11 necessary expenses of the members appointed by the governor.
5-12 (e) A state office or agency that is represented on the
5-13 board may allow its employees to assist the commission in the
5-14 administration and operation of the center and to assist the board
5-15 in the performance of the board's duties.
5-16 Sec. 2170.104. COORDINATION WITH OTHER STATE AGENCIES. (a)
5-17 The commission shall ensure that other state agencies have access
5-18 to the electronic database.
5-19 (b) The center and other state agencies shall enter into
5-20 agreements as appropriate so that, to the extent practical:
5-21 (1) personnel at other state agency information
5-22 centers may, during reasonable interludes, assist the Access Texas
5-23 center by receiving and processing telephone calls to the Access
5-24 Texas center;
5-25 (2) personnel at the Access Texas center may assist
5-26 other state agency information centers during reasonable interludes
5-27 by receiving and processing telephone calls to the other centers;
6-1 and
6-2 (3) the telecommunications systems of and the
6-3 electronically accessible information available to the various
6-4 information centers are linked in a manner that will facilitate the
6-5 mutual assistance described by this section.
6-6 SECTION 2. The General Services Commission may not, for the
6-7 state fiscal biennium ending August 31, 2001, receive a direct
6-8 appropriation for the development and operation of the Access Texas
6-9 information center that the commission is required to establish
6-10 under Subchapter C, Chapter 2170, Government Code, as added by this
6-11 Act. During that state fiscal biennium, each of the 25 largest
6-12 state agencies, as determined by the amount of appropriations to
6-13 the agencies for the biennium under the General Appropriations Act,
6-14 that are in the executive branch of state government and that are
6-15 not agencies or institutions of higher education, shall enter into
6-16 interagency contracts with the General Services Commission under
6-17 which those agencies will pay the commission for the development
6-18 and operation of the Access Texas information center during the
6-19 biennium. Each of those agencies shall pay the percentage of the
6-20 costs of developing and operating the center during the biennium
6-21 that is equal to the percentage obtained by dividing the agency's
6-22 appropriation for the biennium by the sum of the 25 agencies'
6-23 appropriations for the biennium.
6-24 SECTION 3. (a) As soon as possible after the effective date
6-25 of this Act, the governor shall appoint three voting members to the
6-26 independent policy board of the Access Texas information center in
6-27 accordance with Subchapter C, Chapter 2170, Government Code, as
7-1 added by this Act. The governor shall appoint one member for a term
7-2 expiring February 1, 2001, one for a term expiring February 1,
7-3 2003, and one for a term expiring February 1, 2005.
7-4 (b) The independent policy board of the Access Texas
7-5 information center shall hold its first meeting in September of
7-6 1999. The executive director of the General Services Commission, in
7-7 consultation with the presiding officer of the policy board, may
7-8 perform all ministerial duties on behalf of the board that are
7-9 necessary under state law for the board to hold its first meeting.
7-10 (c) The electronic database and the Internet site required
7-11 under Subchapter C, Chapter 2170, Government Code, as added by this
7-12 Act, shall be operational not later than January of 2000.
7-13 Equipment and software necessary for the operation of the Access
7-14 Texas information center shall be installed and operational not
7-15 later than September of 2000, and the center shall begin operations
7-16 not later than that month. The center's toll-free telephone number
7-17 shall be listed with all telephone exchanges and in the directories
7-18 of all local telephone companies in this state not later than
7-19 January 1, 2001.
7-20 (d) The center shall begin operations with 33 full-time
7-21 employees.
7-22 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
7-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-27 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
8-1 passage, and it is so enacted.