SRC-JLB S.B. 650 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 650
78R3935 JJT-FBy: Shapleigh
Government Organization
3/13/2003
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, state investments of public funds are managed by state agencies
in concert with national investment brokerage firms.  The Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) requires that governmental agencies disclose their
records to any person requesting them, barring those records containing
information specifically exempted by one of the statutory exemptions.
However, in regards to private investment of public funds, agencies have
bypassed FOIA requests to disclose information regarding private
investments.  This lack of disclosure does not allow for a comparison
among other Texas and national funds and the potential for better fund
management of state dollars.  Expanding existing disclosure policy would
make it easier for the public to discern how much money the state
investment funds pay in commissions and fees.  As proposed, S.B. 650
requires state investment funds to require the posting of all investment
funds administered by or under a contract with any entity of state
government on the Internet, except for the Texas Workers Compensation
Insurance Fund and requires companies retained by and used by the
agencies, in relation to the investment of the funds, to disclose the
race, ethnicity, and gender of the controlling ownership of each business
and their principal place of business.  The bill does not affect the
Public Funds Investment Act, which regulates what can and cannot be
bought. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to
a state officer, institution, or agency.  

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 2054F, Government Code, by adding Section
2054.114, as follows: 
 
Sec. 2054.114.  REQUIRED POSTING OF STATE INVESTMENT FUND INFORMATION ON
INTERNET.  (a)  Defines "state investment fund." 

(b)  Requires the entity of state government responsible for administering
a state investment fund to, on or before the first day of each calendar
quarter, post a report containing the information specified by Subsection
(c) for the previous calendar quarter on a generally accessible Internet
site maintained by or for certain entities. 

  (c)  Requires the report to state certain information.

(d)  Provides that this section does not apply to the Texas Workers'
Compensation Insurance Fund created under Article 5.76-3, Insurance Code. 
 
SECTION 2.  Effective date:  upon passage or September 1, 2003.