77R11195 MTB-D
By Hochberg H.B. No. 2589
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2589:
By Wolens C.S.H.B. No. 2589
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the required posting of information on a state agency's
1-3 Internet site and to the confidentiality of certain information.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2054.121, Government Code, as added by
1-6 Section 1, Chapter 1573, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular
1-7 Session, 1999, is amended to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 2054.121. REQUIRED POSTING OF INFORMATION ON INTERNET.
1-9 (a) The department shall adopt a policy that:
1-10 (1) prescribes terms under which a person may use,
1-11 copy information from, or link to a generally accessible Internet
1-12 site maintained by or for a state agency; and
1-13 (2) protects the personal information of members of
1-14 the public who access information from or through a generally
1-15 accessible Internet site maintained by or for a state agency.
1-16 (b) The department shall post the policy on its Internet
1-17 site. A state agency shall prominently post a link to the policy
1-18 statement on a generally accessible Internet site maintained by or
1-19 for the agency.
1-20 (c) The policy shall include a statement:
1-21 (1) generally allowing the use and reproduction of
1-22 information on a state agency's Internet site without the state
1-23 agency's permission, subject to specified conditions;
1-24 (2) generally allowing linking from a web page to a
2-1 page on a state agency's Internet site without the state agency's
2-2 permission, subject to specified conditions;
2-3 (3) prohibiting a state agency from charging a fee to
2-4 access, use, reproduce information on, or link to its Internet site
2-5 except to the extent the state agency is specifically authorized to
2-6 do so by the legislature;
2-7 (4) requiring that the state agency's Internet site be
2-8 credited as the source of information reproduced from the site and
2-9 requiring that the date that the material was reproduced from the
2-10 site be clearly stated;
2-11 (5) prohibiting a state agency from selling or
2-12 releasing an e-mail address of a member of the public unless the
2-13 member of the public affirmatively consents to the sale or release
2-14 of the e-mail address; and
2-15 (6) specifying other policies necessary to protect
2-16 from public disclosure personal information submitted by a member
2-17 of the public to a state agency's Internet site to the extent the
2-18 information is:
2-19 (A) confidential;
2-20 (B) excepted from the requirements of Section
2-21 552.021; or
2-22 (C) protected by other law intended to protect a
2-23 person's privacy interests.
2-24 (d) Each state agency, other than an institution of higher
2-25 education, that receives an aggregate amount of appropriations in
2-26 the General Appropriations Act for a state fiscal biennium that
2-27 exceeds $175 million shall post the following information during
3-1 the biennium on a generally accessible Internet site maintained by
3-2 or for the agency:
3-3 (1) an analysis of all agency expenditures during the
3-4 two preceding state fiscal years that lists each county in the
3-5 state and states for each county the amount of agency expenditures
3-6 made in or for the benefit of the county;
3-7 (2) if the information required to substantially
3-8 comply with Subdivision (1) is not available, an analysis that
3-9 approximates compliance with Subdivision (1) to the greatest
3-10 possible extent by listing agency expenditures according to
3-11 geographic regions of the state, to the extent possible, and by
3-12 each field office of the agency;
3-13 (3) a profile of the governing officer or of each
3-14 member of the governing body of the agency that includes, among
3-15 other information, the office address of the officer or member;
3-16 (4) a listing and description of all contracts with
3-17 vendors that have a value exceeding $100,000 that the agency has
3-18 entered into and that are currently being performed or for which
3-19 performance has not yet begun;
3-20 (5) a brief description of the agency's duties; and
3-21 (6) an electronic link to the agency's rules as
3-22 published in the electronic version of the Texas Administrative
3-23 Code and an electronic link to any written procedure of the agency
3-24 relating to agency hearings that is not contained in the electronic
3-25 version of the Texas Administrative Code.
3-26 SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
3-27 amended by adding Section 552.136 to read as follows:
4-1 Sec. 552.136. CONFIDENTIALITY OF CERTAIN E-MAIL ADDRESSES.
4-2 (a) An e-mail address of a member of the public that is provided
4-3 for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental
4-4 body is confidential and not subject to disclosure under this
4-5 chapter.
4-6 (b) Confidential information described by this section that
4-7 relates to a member of the public may be disclosed if the member of
4-8 the public affirmatively consents to its release.
4-9 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.