H.B. 1947 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 1947 By: Flores Appropriations Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current Texas law, the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners, the Texas Board of Professional Engineers, and the Texas Board of Public Accountancy are participating in a pilot project as Self-Directed, Semi-Independent (SDSI) Agencies. Through this program, both the State and the agencies involved have experienced substantial benefits. However, the Act that established this project expires on September 1, 2003; this bill would extend that deadline to September 1, 2009. The Self-Directed, Semi-Independent Pilot Program was designed to experiment running a state government agency like a business to achieve more efficiency and effectiveness. Regulatory agencies are charged with operating as a business and are accountable to their stakeholders. There are numerous benefits received from this program that do not just benefit the agencies, but the State as well. By these agencies operating like a business, the Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning are relieved of budget oversight of SDSI agencies and associated costs. Likewise, registrants become more directly involved in evaluating the cost of operating the agency. By making these agencies self sufficient, the pilot program also reduces the size of the state budget and the number of employees on the state payroll. House Bill 1947 extends the expiration date of the Self-Directed, Semi-Independent Pilot Program, which involves the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners, the Texas Board of Professional Engineers, and the Texas Board of Public Accountancy, until September 1, 2009. 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 House Bill 1947 amends the Self-Directed, Semi-Independent Agency Project Act by extending the expiration date from September 1, 2003 to September 1, 2009. EFFECTIVE DATE Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2003.