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78S10210 KEG-D
By: Casteel H.B. No. 57
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the abolition of the Office of State-Federal Relations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 751.001(1) and (4), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(1) "Board" means the [Office of] State-Federal
Relations Advisory [Policy] Board.
(4) "State agency" means a state board, commission,
department, institution, or officer in the executive branch of
state government having statewide jurisdiction, including a state
college or university.
SECTION 2. Section 751.002, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 751.002. OFFICE OF STATE-FEDERAL RELATIONS. [(a)]
The Office of State-Federal Relations is a division of the office of
the governor [an agency of the state and operates within the
executive department.
[(b) The office is subject to the administrative procedure
law, Chapter 2001].
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 751.004, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 751.004. APPOINTMENT [AND TERM] OF DIRECTOR.
SECTION 4. Section 751.004(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The governor[, with the advice and consent of the
senate,] shall appoint a director of the office.
SECTION 5. Section 751.005(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The director shall:
(1) help coordinate state and federal programs dealing
with the same subject;
(2) inform the governor, the lieutenant governor, and
the speaker of the house of representatives [legislature] of
federal programs that may be carried out in the state or that affect
state programs;
(3) provide federal agencies and the United States
Congress with information about state policy and state conditions
on matters that concern the federal government;
(4) regularly provide the governor, the lieutenant
governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives
[legislature] with information useful in measuring the effect of
federal actions on the state and local programs; and
(5) prepare and supply to the governor, the lieutenant
governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives [and all
members of the legislature] an annual report that:
(A) describes the office's operations;
(B) contains the office's priorities and
strategies for the following year;
(C) details projects and legislation pursued by
the office;
(D) discusses issues in the following
congressional session of interest to this state; and
(E) contains an analysis of federal funds
availability and formulae[; and
[(6) prepare annually a complete and detailed written
report accounting for all funds received and disbursed by the
office during the preceding fiscal year].
SECTION 6. The heading to Section 751.006, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 751.006. STAFF[; PERSONNEL POLICIES].
SECTION 7. Section 751.006(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The director may employ staff necessary to carry out the
director's powers and duties under this chapter. [The director or
the director's designee shall provide to office employees, as often
as necessary, information regarding their qualification for
employment under this chapter and their responsibilities under
applicable laws relating to standards of conduct for state
employees.]
SECTION 8. The heading to Section 751.010, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 751.010. [OFFICE OF] STATE-FEDERAL RELATIONS ADVISORY
[POLICY] BOARD.
SECTION 9. Section 751.010, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (e), and (f) and adding Subsection (g) to
read as follows:
(a) The governor may appoint members to an advisory board to
assist in the administration of this chapter [Office of
State-Federal Relations Advisory Policy Board consists of:
[(1) the governor;
[(2) the lieutenant governor; and
[(3) the speaker of the house of representatives].
(e) The board may [shall] meet before the beginning of each
congressional session and at the call of the director [presiding
officer].
(f) The board may [shall] work with the director to hold
periodic meetings [in the city of Austin at times determined by the
presiding officer] to discuss upcoming federal activities and
issues with state agency representatives.
(g) A member of the advisory board may not receive
compensation, but is entitled to reimbursement of the member's
necessary and actual expenses incurred while performing duties
under this chapter, subject to any applicable limitation on
reimbursement provided by general law or the General Appropriations
Act.
SECTION 10. Section 751.012(c), Government Code, as amended
by S.B. No. 19, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) A contract under this section must include provisions
under which staff of the other state agency:
(1) report directly to the director;
(2) report [directly] to the other state [that]
agency's administrative head or the presiding officer of the other
state [that] agency's governing body;
(3) [(2)] have an officially recognized role in the
other state [that] agency's budget planning process; and
(4) [(3)] provide periodic updates of activities to
the other state [at meetings of that] agency's governing body.
SECTION 11. Section 751.012(e), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(e) A state agency identified by the Legislative Budget
Board or the governor's office of budget, planning, and policy as
receiving significant federal funding or being significantly
affected by federal policy decisions, other than a state agency
that is headed by a statewide-elected official, shall:
(1) develop a plan of state-federal coordination;
(2) study the benefits of entering a contract under
Subsection (a); and
(3) submit the coordination plan and study to the
office and to the Legislative Budget Board.
SECTION 12. Chapter 751, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 751.015 to read as follows:
Sec. 751.015. AGENCY COMMUNICATIONS. A state agency must,
to the extent practicable, contact the office before the agency
provides information to a federal agency or to the United States
Congress about a state policy or state circumstances. This section
does not apply to a state agency that is headed by a
statewide-elected official.
SECTION 13. Subchapter B, Chapter 751, Government Code, is
transferred to Chapter 401, Government Code, redesignated as
Subchapter G, Chapter 401, Government Code, and amended to read as
follows:
SUBCHAPTER G [B]. FEDERAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT
Sec. 401.151 [751.021]. DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
"federal formula funds" means only those funds coming to the state
based on federal funding formulas or as otherwise legislated by
congress, excluding those funds known as federal discretionary
grant funds.
Sec. 401.152 [751.022]. POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The
governor's office of budget, planning, and policy has primary
responsibility for monitoring, coordinating, and reporting on the
state's efforts to ensure receipt of an equitable share of federal
formula funds.
(b) The governor's office of budget, planning, and policy
shall:
(1) serve as the state's clearinghouse for information
on federal formula funds;
(2) prepare reports on federal funds and earned
federal formula funds;
(3) analyze proposed and pending federal and state
legislation to determine whether the legislation would have a
significant negative effect on the state's ability to receive an
equitable share of federal formula funds;
(4) make recommendations for coordination between
state agencies and local governmental entities and between state
agencies; and
(5) adopt rules under the rule-making procedures of
the administrative procedure law, Chapter 2001, Government Code, as
necessary to carry out the responsibilities assigned by this
subchapter.
(c) The governor's office of budget, planning, and policy
shall annually prepare a comprehensive report to the governor and
legislature on the effectiveness of the state's efforts to ensure a
receipt of an equitable share of federal formula funds for the
preceding federal fiscal year. The report must include:
(1) an executive summary that provides an overview of
the major findings and recommendations included in the report;
(2) a comparative analysis of the state's receipt of
federal formula funds relative to other states, prepared using the
best available sources of data;
(3) an analysis of federal formula funding trends that
may have a significant effect on resources available to the state;
and
(4) recommendations, developed in consultation with
the Legislative Budget Board, the Office of State-Federal Relations
[Governor's Office of Budget and Planning], and the comptroller,
for any state legislative or administrative action necessary to
increase the state's receipt of federal formula funds.
[Sec. 751.023. AGENCY COMMUNICATIONS. A state agency
shall, to the extent practicable, contact the office before the
agency provides information to a federal agency or to the United
States Congress about state policy or conditions. This section
does not apply to a state agency that is headed by a
statewide-elected official.]
Sec. 401.153 [751.024]. REPORTS CONCERNING GRANT FUNDS.
(a) Each agency and each institution of higher education shall
report to [the office,] the Legislative Budget Board[,] and the
governor's office of budget, planning, and policy [budget division
of the governor's office]:
(1) each application or request made to the United
States government for grant funds;
(2) the award or designation, by the United States
government, of any funds for expenditure by a state agency; and
(3) waivers of grant requirements.
(b) In consultation with the governor's office of budget,
planning, and policy [director], the Legislative Budget Board may
prescribe reporting procedures and time schedules necessary to
implement Subsection (a).
SECTION 14. Section 322.004, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) The director may maintain office space at locations
chosen by the director, including at locations outside of the
state.
SECTION 15. (a) The heading to Subchapter A, Chapter 751,
Government Code, is repealed.
(b) The following sections of the Government Code are
repealed:
(1) Section 751.003;
(2) Section 751.005(d);
(3) Sections 751.006(b)-(f);
(4) Section 751.008;
(5) Sections 751.010(b)-(d);
(6) Section 751.011; and
(7) Section 751.012(b).
SECTION 16. On November 1, 2003:
(1) all powers, duties, obligations, rights,
contracts, records, real and personal property, funds,
appropriations, money, and authorized full-time equivalent (FTE)
positions of the Office of State-Federal Relations are transferred
to the office of the governor;
(2) an employee of the Office of State-Federal
Relations becomes an employee of the office of the governor;
(3) a rule, policy, procedure, report, or decision of
the Office of State-Federal Relations continues in effect as a
rule, policy, procedure, report, or decision of the office of the
governor until superseded by an act of the office of the governor;
and
(4) a reference in another law to the Office of
State-Federal Relations means the office of the governor.
SECTION 17. This Act takes effect November 1, 2003.