HBA-TBM H.B. 3318 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3318
By: Ramsay
County Affairs
3/18/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, a county treasurer is required to complete 20 hours of
continuing education every two years.  Currently, the annual education
seminars for county treasurers are conducted at the V. G. Young Institute
at Texas A&M University and a treasurer must travel to College Station
during the week that the course is offered in order to earn the required
hours.  Allowing a county treasurer to receive some of the required
continuing education courses elsewhere and allowing a treasurer to carry
over a certain number of credit hours from year to year may alleviate some
of the difficulties county treasurers face trying to meet continuing
education requirements.  House Bill 3318 authorizes a county treasurer to
carry over credit hours from year to year and allows a treasurer to
participate in continuing education courses without traveling to Texas A&M
University.   

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 3318 amends the Local Government Code to provide that a county
treasurer must successfully complete an introductory instruction course
within one year of taking office, and, after completion of the first year
in office, successfully complete in each 12-month rather than 24-month
period at least 20 hours of continuing education.  The introductory course
and at least 10 hours of yearly continuing education must be taken at an
accredited public institution of higher education, and the remaining
required classroom hours must be certified by an accredited public
institution of higher education.  To satisfy this requirement, a county
treasurer is authorized to carry forward from one 12-month period to the
next not more than 10 continuing education hours that the county treasurer
completes in excess of the required 20 hours.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.