BILL ANALYSIS
By: Chavez
Border and International Affairs
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The 78th Regular Session of the Legislature established an interagency work group under the Office of Rural and Community Affairs to discuss rural issues and to provide information showing the impact each agency has on rural communities for use in developing rural policy. Currently, there is limited formal cooperation among the various state agencies and offices that provide programs and services in border communities and to residents living near the international border.
House Bill 925 creates an interagency work group on border issues to improve coordination of government programs and services offered in the border area.
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
SECTION 1 Adds Section 772.011, Government Code, to create the Interagency Work Group on Border Issues.
The bill requires that the heads, or their designees, of fifteen different state entities meet as a work group at least once a year in Austin to provide information showing the impact each agency has on border communities for use in developing border policy to develop or update a process to allow the agencies to work together on border issues, discuss and coordinate programs and services offered to border communities and residents, and develop regulatory and legislative recommendations to eliminate duplication and combine program services.
SECTION 2 The effective date of this Act is September 1, 2005
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2005
Committee Amendment No. 1 adds the Department of Public Safety and the Railroad Commission to the list of state entities participating in the work group, requires that the work group meet quarterly, defines the border region as the area within 100 kilometers of the Texas-Mexico border, and requires the work group to consider the effect of policies instituted by the federal government impacting the border region.
Committee Amendment No. 2 defines the border region as the area within 100 kilometers of the Texas-Mexico border and allows the Water Development Board to maintain and update an Internet based-directory of projects in the border region in which a state agency is involved.