1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the application of certain laws to local workforce
1-3 development boards and to the application of certain conflict of
1-4 interest requirements to the members of those boards.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 551.001(3), Government Code, is amended to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (3) "Governmental body" means:
1-9 (A) a board, commission, department, committee,
1-10 or agency within the executive or legislative branch of state
1-11 government that is directed by one or more elected or appointed
1-12 members;
1-13 (B) a county commissioners court in the state;
1-14 (C) a municipal governing body in the state;
1-15 (D) a deliberative body that has rulemaking or
1-16 quasi-judicial power and that is classified as a department,
1-17 agency, or political subdivision of a county or municipality;
1-18 (E) a school district board of trustees;
1-19 (F) a county board of school trustees;
1-20 (G) a county board of education;
1-21 (H) the governing board of a special district
1-22 created by law; [and]
1-23 (I) a local workforce development board created
1-24 under Section 2308.253; and
2-1 (J) a nonprofit corporation organized under
2-2 Chapter 67, Water Code, that provides a water supply or wastewater
2-3 service, or both, and is exempt from ad valorem taxation under
2-4 Section 11.30, Tax Code.
2-5 SECTION 2. Section 552.003(1), Government Code, is amended to
2-6 read as follows:
2-7 (1) "Governmental body":
2-8 (A) means:
2-9 (i) a board, commission, department,
2-10 committee, institution, agency, or office that is within or is
2-11 created by the executive or legislative branch of state government
2-12 and that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members;
2-13 (ii) a county commissioners court in the
2-14 state;
2-15 (iii) a municipal governing body in the
2-16 state;
2-17 (iv) a deliberative body that has
2-18 rulemaking or quasi-judicial power and that is classified as a
2-19 department, agency, or political subdivision of a county or
2-20 municipality;
2-21 (v) a school district board of trustees;
2-22 (vi) a county board of school trustees;
2-23 (vii) a county board of education;
2-24 (viii) the governing board of a special
2-25 district;
2-26 (ix) a local workforce development board
2-27 created under Section 2308.253;
3-1 (x) [(ix)] the governing body of a
3-2 nonprofit corporation organized under Chapter 67, Water Code, that
3-3 provides a water supply or wastewater service, or both, and is
3-4 exempt from ad valorem taxation under Section 11.30, Tax Code; and
3-5 (xi) [(x)] the part, section, or portion
3-6 of an organization, corporation, commission, committee,
3-7 institution, or agency that spends or that is supported in whole or
3-8 in part by public funds; and
3-9 (B) does not include the judiciary.
3-10 SECTION 3. Section 771.002(1), Government Code, is amended to
3-11 read as follows:
3-12 (1) "Agency" includes:
3-13 (A) a department, board, bureau, commission,
3-14 court, office, authority, council, or institution;
3-15 (B) a university, college, or any service or
3-16 part of a state institution of higher education; [and]
3-17 (C) a local workforce development board created
3-18 under Section 2308.253; and
3-19 (D) any statewide job or employment training
3-20 program for disadvantaged youth that is substantially financed by
3-21 federal funds and that was created by executive order not later
3-22 than December 30, 1986.
3-23 SECTION 4. Section 271.081, Local Government Code, is amended
3-24 to read as follows:
3-25 Sec. 271.081. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "local
3-26 government" means a county, municipality, special district, school
3-27 district, junior college district, a local workforce development
4-1 board created under Section 2308.253, Government Code, or other
4-2 legally constituted political subdivision of the state.
4-3 SECTION 5. Section 2175.001(1), Government Code, is amended
4-4 to read as follows:
4-5 (1) "Assistance organization" means:
4-6 (A) a nonprofit organization that provides
4-7 educational, health, or human services or assistance to homeless
4-8 individuals;
4-9 (B) a nonprofit food bank that solicits,
4-10 warehouses, and redistributes edible but unmarketable food to an
4-11 agency that feeds needy families and individuals;
4-12 (C) Texas Partners of the Americas, a registered
4-13 agency with the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid, with
4-14 the approval of the Partners of the Alliance office of the Agency
4-15 for International Development; [and]
4-16 (D) a group, including a faith-based group, that
4-17 enters into a financial or nonfinancial agreement with a health or
4-18 human services agency to provide services to that agency's clients;
4-19 and
4-20 (E) a local workforce development board created
4-21 under Section 2308.253.
4-22 SECTION 6. Section 2308.257, Government Code, is amended to
4-23 read as follows:
4-24 Sec. 2308.257. RECUSAL. (a) A member of a board shall avoid
4-25 the appearance of conflict of interest by not voting in, or
4-26 participating in, any decision by the board regarding the provision
4-27 of services by such member, or any organization which that member
5-1 directly represents, or on any matter which would provide direct
5-2 financial benefit to that member, the member's immediate family, or
5-3 any organization which that member directly represents.
5-4 (b) Subsection (a) shall serve as a minimum standard and
5-5 shall not be construed as to limit the board's authority for more
5-6 restrictive governance to prevent real and/or apparent conflict of
5-7 interest. [A member of a board shall avoid the appearance of
5-8 conflict of interest by not voting in a vote of the board that
5-9 directly affects the funding of the member's organization or of any
5-10 organization the member represents.]
5-11 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 936 was passed by the House on May 4,
2001, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in Senate
amendments to H.B. No. 936 on May 24, 2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 936 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 22, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0, 1 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________________
Date
__________________________
Governor