1-1     By:  Bosse (Senate Sponsor - Harris)                  H.B. No. 2492
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2001;
 1-3     May 7, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on State
 1-4     Affairs; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the state employee incentive and productivity program.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1. Section 2108.004(c), Government Code, is amended
1-11     to read as follows:
1-12           (c)  The commission may seek, accept, and use contributions
1-13     or assistance from private institutions and organizations and may
1-14     request and receive aid and assistance from the governor's office
1-15     and other state governmental bodies to effectively implement this
1-16     chapter.
1-17           SECTION 2. Sections 2108.023(d) and (e), Government Code, are
1-18     amended to read as follows:
1-19           (d)  An employee is eligible for a bonus of 10 percent of the
1-20     net savings or revenue increases, not to exceed an award of $5,000,
1-21     if the employee's suggestion results in savings or increased
1-22     revenues, including savings or increased revenues that result from
1-23     increased productivity, that:
1-24                 (1)  can be computed using a cost-benefit analysis; and
1-25                 (2)  equal or exceed $500 [$100] after implementation
1-26     costs.
1-27           (e)  An employee is not eligible for a bonus but may be
1-28     recognized by a certificate of appreciation if the employee's
1-29     suggestion results in:
1-30                 (1)  intangible savings or benefits that cannot be
1-31     computed using a cost-benefit analysis; or
1-32                 (2)  a net annual savings or increase in revenues of
1-33     less than $500 [$100].
1-34           SECTION 3. Section 2108.0236(b), Government Code, is amended
1-35     to read as follows:
1-36           (b)  A state employee group is eligible for a total bonus of
1-37     10 percent of the first-year net savings or revenue increases, not
1-38     to exceed an award of $5,000 for each member of the state employee
1-39     group, if the state employee group's suggestion results in savings
1-40     or increased revenues to a state agency, including savings or
1-41     increased revenues that result from increased productivity, that:
1-42                 (1)  can be computed using a cost-benefit analysis; and
1-43                 (2)  equal or exceed $500 [$100] after implementation
1-44     costs.
1-45           SECTION 4. Section 2108.024, Government Code, is amended to
1-46     read as follows:
1-47           Sec. 2108.024.  EMPLOYEE ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE. (a) Each
1-48     state employee is eligible to participate in the incentive program
1-49     except an employee:
1-50                 (1)  who has authority to implement the suggestion
1-51     being made;
1-52                 (2)  who is on an unpaid leave of absence;
1-53                 (3)  whose job description includes responsibility for
1-54     cost analysis, efficiency analysis, savings implementation, or
1-55     other similar programs in the employee's agency;
1-56                 (4)  who is involved in or has access to agency
1-57     research and development information used as the basis of the
1-58     suggestion;
1-59                 (5)  whose job description or routine job duties
1-60     include developing the type of change in agency operations
1-61     recommended by the suggestion;  [or]
1-62                 (6)  who is an employee of the commission; or
1-63                 (7)  who is an elected or appointed official.
1-64           (b)  An employee who is temporarily assigned by the
 2-1     employee's agency to a group that is established for the purpose of
 2-2     developing process improvements in that agency is not ineligible
 2-3     under Subsection (a)(1) or (5) to participate in the incentive
 2-4     program solely because of the employee's participation in that
 2-5     group.
 2-6           SECTION 5. Section 2108.037, Government Code, is amended by
 2-7     adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
 2-8           (c)  The affected agency may transfer savings attributable to
 2-9     an implemented suggestion from the first year of the fiscal
2-10     biennium to the second year of the fiscal biennium.
2-11           SECTION 6. Section 2113.107(f), Government Code, is amended
2-12     to read as follows:
2-13           (f)  Subsection (e) does not apply to a publication designed
2-14     to promote tourism or economic development, a publication of the
2-15     Texas School for the Deaf or the Texas School for the Blind and
2-16     Visually Impaired, a publication of the Texas Incentive and
2-17     Productivity Commission, or a publication of an institution of
2-18     higher education.
2-19           SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-20                                  * * * * *