C.S.H.B. 1767 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1767 By: Ellis County Affairs Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, incumbent county commissioners who are not reelected in counties with a population of less than 50,000 are required to have their post-election purchases authorized by the county commissioners court. This law was established to prevent "lame duck" commissioners from spending excessively after not being reelected. CSHB 1767 will remove the population cap, extend expenditure restrictions to precinct officers, and extend the time period that the commissioners court must approve expenditures to the date that primary election results are returned. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS CSHB 1767 will extend the law to precinct officers and remove the population cap that stands in existing language and in HB 1767. CSHB will also extend the time period that the commissioners court is required to approve any expenditure from an outgoing commissioner or precinct officer. The commissioners court must now approve expenditures following the date the results of the primary are returned in the case that an incumbent county commissioner or precinct officer is not renominated. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2003. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE CSHB 1767 includes precinct officers with county commissioners in the elected officials who must have their expenditures approved. CSHB 1767 extends the time period of expenditure approval to the date primary results are returned for incumbent precinct officers and county commissioners who were not re-nominated or reelected. CSHB 1767 does away with the population cap that covers counties with a population of less than 100,000 people so that the bill will apply to all counties throughout the state.