Amend HB 880 (Senate committee printing) by adding the
following appropriately numbered SECTION to the bill and
renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill as appropriate:
SECTION __. (a) Section 572.051, Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 572.051. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT; STATE AGENCY ETHICS
POLICY . (a) A state officer or employee shall [should] not:
(1) accept or solicit any gift, favor, or service that
might reasonably tend to influence the officer or employee in the
discharge of official duties or that the officer or employee knows
or should know is being offered with the intent to influence the
officer's or employee's official conduct;
(2) accept other employment or engage in a business or
professional activity that the officer or employee might reasonably
expect would require or induce the officer or employee to disclose
confidential information acquired by reason of the official
position;
(3) accept other employment or compensation that could
reasonably be expected to impair the officer's or employee's
independence of judgment in the performance of the officer's or
employee's official duties;
(4) make personal investments that could reasonably be
expected to create a substantial conflict between the officer's or
employee's private interest and the public interest; or
(5) intentionally or knowingly solicit, accept, or
agree to accept any benefit for having exercised the officer's or
employee's official powers or performed the officer's or employee's
official duties in favor of another.
(b) Each state agency shall:
(1) adopt a written ethics policy consistent with the
standards prescribed by Subsection (a) and other provisions of this
subchapter; and
(2) distribute a copy of the ethics policy and this
subchapter to each new employee not later than the third business
day after the date the person begins employment with the agency.
(c) The office of the attorney general shall develop in
coordination with the ethics commission and distribute a model
policy that state agencies may use in adopting an agency ethics
policy under Subsection (b). A state agency is not required to
adopt the model policy developed under this subsection.
(d) Subchapters E and F, Chapter 571, do not apply to a
violation of this section.
(e) Not later than November 1, 2005, the office of the
attorney general shall:
(1) develop a model ethics policy as required by
Subsection (c); and
(2) distribute the policy to each state agency
required to adopt an ethics policy under Subsection (b).
(f) Not later than January 1, 2006, each state agency shall:
(1) adopt an ethics policy as required by Subsection
(b); and
(2) distribute a copy of the ethics policy and this
subchapter to each employee of the agency.
(g) Subsections (e) and (f) and this subsection expire
January 15, 2006.
(b) Section 572.051, Government Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to conduct of a state officer or employee that
occurs on or after September 1, 2005. Conduct of a state officer or
employee that occurs before September 1, 2005, is governed by the
law in effect on the date the conduct occurred, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.