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79R9776 KEG-F
By: Keffer of Eastland H.B. No. 2233
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2233:
By: Luna C.S.H.B. No. 2233
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state and certain local fiscal matters.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 103.0031(e), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(e) If a county or municipality has entered into a contract
under Subsection (a) and a person pays an amount that is less than
the aggregate total to be collected under Subsections (a) and (b),
[the allocation to the comptroller, the county or municipality,
and] the private attorney or vendor shall receive 30 percent of the
total amount collected and the remainder of the amount collected
shall be allocated in accordance with this chapter and Chapter 133,
Local Government Code [be reduced proportionately].
SECTION 2. Section 43.002(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) On the first working day of each month in a state fiscal
year, the agency [comptroller] shall transfer from the permanent
school fund to the available school fund an amount equal to
one-twelfth of the annual distribution from the permanent school
fund to the available school fund as provided by Section 5(a),
Article VII, Texas Constitution, for the fiscal year.
SECTION 3. Section 63.202, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c), [and] (d), and
(h), money in the fund established under this subchapter may not be
used for any purpose.
(h) Expenses of managing and administering the assets of the
fund shall be paid from the fund.
SECTION 4. Section 63.302, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c), [and] (e), and
(h), money in the fund established under this subchapter may not be
used for any purpose.
(h) Expenses of managing and administering the assets of the
fund shall be paid from the fund.
SECTION 5. Sections 25.0015(b) and (c), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) For a county that participates under Section 51.702(f)
under a resolution adopted and filed with the comptroller before
September 1, 2003, the amount shall be paid to the county's salary
fund in equal quarterly [monthly] installments, and of each $35,000
paid a county, $30,000 shall be paid from funds appropriated from
the judicial fund, and $5,000 shall be paid from funds appropriated
from the general revenue fund.
(c) For a county that participates under Section 51.702(f)
under a resolution adopted or filed with the comptroller on or after
September 1, 2003, the amount shall be paid to the county's salary
fund in equal quarterly [monthly] installments from funds
appropriated from the judicial fund.
SECTION 6. Section 25.00211(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The amount shall be paid to the county treasury for
deposit in the contributions fund created under Section 25.00213 in
equal quarterly [monthly] installments from funds appropriated
from the judicial fund.
SECTION 7. Section 26.007(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The amount shall be paid to the county's salary fund in
equal quarterly [monthly] installments from funds appropriated
from the judicial fund.
SECTION 8. Section 74.061, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as
follows:
(d) For services actually performed while assigned under
this chapter, a [retired or] former judge or justice shall receive
from county funds and money appropriated by the legislature the
same amount of salary, compensation, and expenses that the regular
judge is entitled to receive from the county and from the state for
those services.
(d-1) The presiding judge of the administrative region
shall certify to the county and the state the services rendered
under this chapter by a retired or former judge or justice and the
share to be paid by the state. The amount certified by the
presiding judge as the state's share shall be paid from an item in
the Judiciary Section, Comptroller's [Judicial
Section--Comptroller's] Department of the General Appropriations
Act for the payment of salaries of district and criminal district
judges.
SECTION 9. Sections 403.071(g) and (h), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(g) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the comptroller [and a
state agency] may [contract in writing for the comptroller to]
audit claims presented by a [the] state agency after the
comptroller prepares warrants or uses the electronic funds transfer
system to pay the claims. The [If the comptroller and a state
agency execute a contract, the] comptroller may determine [decide]
the types of claims that will be audited after payment.
(h) [This subsection applies if the comptroller and a state
agency have contracted in accordance with Subsection (g).] The
comptroller shall audit claims after payment under Subsection (g)
in the same manner [way] that the comptroller audits claims before
payment under Subsection (a). The comptroller may establish
requirements and adopt rules concerning the time that a state
agency must retain documentation in its files to enable a
postpayment audit. If a postpayment audit by the comptroller shows
that a claim presented by a state agency was invalid, the
comptroller may:
(1) implement procedures to ensure that similar
invalid claims from the state agency are not paid in the future;
(2) report to the governor, the lieutenant governor,
the speaker of the house of representatives, the state auditor, and
the Legislative Budget Board the results of the audit;
(3) require the state agency to obtain a refund of the
monies from the payee; and
(4) [cancel the contract with the state agency; and
[(5)] reduce the state agency's remaining
appropriations by the amount of the claim.
SECTION 10. Section 404.024, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (m) to read as follows:
(m) In entering into a direct security repurchase agreement
or a reverse security repurchase agreement, the comptroller may
agree to accept cash on an overnight basis in lieu of the
securities, obligations, or participation certificates identified
in Section 404.001(3). Cash held by the state under this subsection
is not a deposit of state or public funds for the purposes of any
law, including this subchapter or Subchapter D, that requires a
deposit of state or public funds to be collateralized by eligible
securities.
SECTION 11. Section 404.124(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) The committee may determine whether the notes will be
sold on a negotiated or competitive bid basis. If the committee
determines that competitive bids are appropriate, the underwriter
of any notes issued under this section shall be selected by the
method of sale that is most advantageous to the state under the
circumstances, including a sale using an Internet auction site. An
[solicitation of sealed bids and an] appropriate bid notice shall
be published at least one time in one or more recognized financial
publications of general circulation published within the state and
one or more recognized financial publications of general
circulation published outside the state. Unless all bids are
rejected, the underwriter shall be selected from the bids received.
The comptroller may not sell the notes in a manner not approved.
SECTION 12. Subchapter A, Chapter 659, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 659.007 to read as follows:
Sec. 659.007. EARNINGS STATEMENTS. (a) In this section,
"state agency" has the meaning assigned by Section 403.013.
(b) A state agency may provide a written or electronic
earnings statement to an officer or employee of the agency.
(c) The comptroller may adopt rules and establish
procedures concerning the earnings statements provided by state
agencies that under Subchapter C, Chapter 2101, are required to use
the uniform statewide payroll system.
SECTION 13. Sections 659.044(a) and (d), Government Code,
as amended by Sections 32 and 104, Chapter 1158, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, are reenacted to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the monthly amount
of longevity pay is $20 for every three years of lifetime service
credit.
(d) An employee may not receive from the state as longevity
pay more than the amount determined under Subsection (a) or (e), as
applicable, regardless of the number of positions the employee
holds or the number of hours the employee works each week.
SECTION 14. Section 659.044(e), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(e) This subsection applies only to an employee of the Texas
Youth Commission who is receiving less than the maximum amount of
hazardous duty pay that the commission may pay to the employee under
Section 659.303. The employee's monthly amount of longevity pay is
the sum of:
(1) $20 [$4] for every three years [each year] of
lifetime service credit, which may not include any period served in
a hazardous duty position; and
(2) the lesser of:
(A) $20 [$4] for every three years [each year]
served in a hazardous duty position; or
(B) the difference between:
(i) $7 for each year served in a hazardous
duty position; and
(ii) the amount paid by the commission for
each year served in a hazardous duty position.
SECTION 15. Section 659.255(a)(3), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(3) "Merit salary increase" means an increase in
compensation to:
(A) a higher step rate in the same classified
salary group, if the classified employee is compensated under a
salary group that is divided into steps [Salary Schedule A of the
General Appropriations Act]; or
(B) a higher rate within the range of the same
classified salary group, if the classified employee is compensated
under a salary group that is not divided into steps [Salary Schedule
B of the General Appropriations Act].
SECTION 16. Sections 659.256(c) and (f), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(c) When an employee is promoted within [to a position in a
higher salary group in] Salary Schedule A of the General
Appropriations Act or from Salary Schedule B or C of the General
Appropriations Act to Salary Schedule A of the General
Appropriations Act, the employee shall receive a salary rate that
is at least 3.4 percent [one step] higher than the employee's salary
rate before promotion or the minimum rate of the new salary range,
whichever is higher, and may, at the discretion of the state agency
administrator, receive an annual salary rate up to and including
the maximum rate of the new salary range. [When an employee is
promoted from a position in Salary Schedule B or C of the General
Appropriations Act to a position in Salary Schedule A of the General
Appropriations Act, the employee shall receive a step rate that is
at least one step above the rate the employee received before
promotion or the minimum rate of the new salary range, whichever is
higher, and may, at the discretion of the state agency
administrator, receive an annual rate up to and including the
maximum rate of the new salary range.]
(f) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section,
an employee whose salary prior to promotion exceeds the maximum
rate of the employee's assigned salary group may not receive more
than the maximum rate of the new salary group, even if the increase
is less than one step in a salary group that is divided into steps
[Salary Schedule A of the General Appropriations Act] or 3.4
percent in a salary group that is not divided into steps [Salary
Schedule B of the General Appropriations Act].
SECTION 17. Section 659.257(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) When an employee is demoted within [to a position in a
lower salary group in] Salary Schedule A of the General
Appropriations Act or from Salary Schedule B or C of the General
Appropriations Act to Salary Schedule A of the General
Appropriations Act, the employee will receive a salary rate of at
least 3.4 percent [one step] below the rate the employee received
before demotion. [When an employee is demoted from a position in
Salary Schedule B or C of the General Appropriations Act to a
position in Salary Schedule A of the General Appropriations Act,
the employee shall receive a step rate that is at least 3.4 percent
below the rate the employee received before demotion.]
SECTION 18. Section 660.024(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The chief administrator of a state agency must give
advance written approval for any travel related to official state
business for which a reimbursement for travel expenses is claimed
or for which an advance for travel expenses to be incurred is
sought. The advance written approval may be communicated
electronically. [A copy of the written approval shall be submitted
with the travel voucher to the comptroller in accordance with
Section 660.027.]
SECTION 19. Sections 660.027(b), (d), and (e), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A voucher submitted under Subsection (a) is valid only
if:
(1) the state agency submitting the voucher approves
it in accordance with Chapter 2103 and, if required by law,
certifies the voucher; and
(2) the state employee who incurred the travel expense
or, if the employee is unavailable, another individual acceptable
to the comptroller approves the description, information, and
documentation required by Subsection (d) [voucher] in writing or
electronically, except that the employee's approval is not required
if another person is required by law to provide the approval.
(d) A voucher must be supported by:
(1) a description of [describe] the official state
business performed; and
(2) [be accompanied by] the information and
documentation that the comptroller considers necessary for the
comptroller to determine compliance with this chapter, the travel
provisions of the General Appropriations Act, and the rules adopted
by the comptroller under this chapter.
(e) The comptroller may require a state agency to provide to
the comptroller the description, information, and documentation
required under [by] Subsection (d):
(1) on the form adopted by the comptroller under
Subsection (c);
(2) electronically;
(3) by submitting receipts or other documents; or
(4) [(3)] by any [a] combination of Subdivisions (1),
[and] (2), and (3).
SECTION 20. Section 662.010(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) An individual must be a state employee on the workday
before and after a state or national holiday in order to be paid for
that holiday. A state employee who begins state employment on the
workday after a holiday or whose state employment is terminated on
the workday before a holiday may not be paid for that holiday[,
unless the holiday falls on the employee's first or last workday of
the month].
SECTION 21. Section 1431.001(2), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(2) "Eligible countywide district" means:
(A) a flood control district or a hospital
district the boundaries of which are substantially coterminous with
the boundaries of a county with a population of three million or
more; or
(B) a hospital district created in a county with
a population of more than 800,000 in which no hospital district was
located before September 1, 2003.
SECTION 22. Section 2256.011, Government Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(a) A fully collateralized repurchase agreement is an
authorized investment under this subchapter if the repurchase
agreement:
(1) has a defined termination date;
(2) except as provided by Subsection (e), is secured
by obligations described by Section 2256.009(a)(1); [and]
(3) requires the securities being purchased by the
entity to be pledged to the entity, held in the entity's name, and
deposited at the time the investment is made with the entity or with
a third party selected and approved by the entity; and
(4) is placed through a primary government securities
dealer, as defined by the Federal Reserve, or a financial
institution doing business in this state.
(e) An entity may agree to secure the agreement by accepting
cash on an overnight basis in lieu of the obligations identified in
Section 2256.009(a)(1). Cash held by an entity under this
subsection is not a deposit of public funds for purposes of any
statute, including Chapter 2257, that requires a deposit of public
funds to be collateralized by eligible securities.
SECTION 23. Section 302.001, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (3) to
read as follows:
(1) "Energy savings performance contract" means a
contract for energy or water conservation or usage measures to
reduce energy or water consumption or net operating costs or to
increase energy-related or water-related revenues of local
government facilities in which the estimated savings in utility
costs or the estimated increase in revenues resulting from the
measures is guaranteed to offset the cost of the measures over a
specified period. The term includes a contract for the
installation or implementation of:
(A) insulation of a building structure and
systems within the building;
(B) storm windows or doors, caulking or weather
stripping, multiglazed windows or doors, heat-absorbing or
heat-reflective glazed and coated window or door systems, or other
window or door system modifications that reduce energy consumption;
(C) automatic energy control systems, including
computer software and technical data licenses;
(D) heating, ventilating, or air-conditioning
system modifications or replacements that reduce energy or water
consumption;
(E) lighting fixtures that increase energy
efficiency;
(F) energy recovery systems;
(G) electric systems improvements;
(H) water-conserving fixtures, appliances, and
equipment or the substitution of non-water-using fixtures,
appliances, and equipment;
(I) water-conserving landscape irrigation
equipment;
(J) landscaping measures that reduce watering
demands and capture and hold applied water and rainfall, including:
(i) landscape contouring, including the use
of berms, swales, and terraces; and
(ii) the use of soil amendments that
increase the water-holding capacity of the soil, including compost;
(K) rainwater harvesting equipment and equipment
to make use of water collected as part of a storm-water system
installed for water quality control;
(L) equipment for recycling or reuse of water
originating on the premises or from other sources, including
treated municipal effluent;
(M) equipment needed to capture water from
nonconventional, alternate sources, including air-conditioning
condensate or graywater, for nonpotable uses;
(N) metering equipment [needed to segregate
water use in order to identify water conservation opportunities or
verify water savings]; or
(O) other energy or water conservation-related
improvements or equipment, including improvements or equipment
relating to renewable energy or nonconventional water sources or
water reuse.
(3) "Usage measure" means a technology or practice
related to the use of energy or water.
SECTION 24. Section 302.002(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Each energy or water conservation or usage measure must
comply with current local, state, and federal construction,
plumbing, and environmental codes and regulations.
Notwithstanding Section 302.001(1), an energy savings performance
contract may not include improvements or equipment that allow or
cause water from any condensing, cooling, or industrial process or
any system of nonpotable usage over which public water supply
system officials do not have sanitary control to be returned to the
potable water supply.
SECTION 25. Section 302.003, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 302.003. PAYMENT AND PERFORMANCE BOND.
Notwithstanding any other law, before entering into an energy
savings performance contract, the governing body of the local
government shall require the provider of the energy or water
conservation or usage measures to file with the governing body a
payment and performance bond relating to the installation of the
measures in accordance with Chapter 2253, Government Code. The
governing body may also require a separate bond to cover the value
of the guaranteed savings or the guaranteed increased revenues from
[on] the contract.
SECTION 26. Section 302.004, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 302.004. METHOD OF FINANCING; TERMS OF CONTRACT. (a)
An energy savings performance contract may be financed:
(1) under a lease-purchase contract that has a term
not to exceed 15 years from the final date of installation and that
meets federal tax requirements for tax-free municipal leasing or
long-term financing;
(2) with the proceeds of bonds; or
(3) under a contract with the provider of the energy or
water conservation or usage measures that has a term not to exceed
15 years from the final date of installation.
(b) An energy savings performance contract shall contain
provisions requiring the provider of the energy or water
conservation or usage measures to guarantee the amount of the
savings or the increased revenues, or both, to be realized by the
local government under the contract. If the term of the contract
exceeds one year, the local government's contractual obligations in
any one year during the term of the contract beginning after the
final date of installation may not exceed the total energy, water,
wastewater, and operating cost savings or increased revenues, or
both, including electrical, gas, water, wastewater, or other
utility cost savings and operating cost savings or increased
revenues, or both, resulting from the measures as determined by the
local government in this subsection, divided by the number of years
in the contract term.
SECTION 27. Section 302.005(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Before entering into an energy savings performance
contract, the governing body must require that the cost savings or
increased revenues, or both, projected by an offeror be reviewed by
a licensed engineer who is not an officer or employee of an offeror
for the contract under review or otherwise associated with the
contract or the offeror. An engineer who reviews a contract shall
maintain the confidentiality of any proprietary information the
engineer acquires while reviewing the contract. Sections 1001.053
and 1001.407, Occupations Code, apply to work performed under the
contract.
SECTION 28. Section 430.003, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 430.003. EXEMPTIONS OF CERTAIN [STATE] PROPERTY FROM
INFRASTRUCTURE FEES. (a) No county, municipality, or utility
district may collect from a state agency or public or private
institution of higher education, including a public junior college
as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, any fee charged for
the development or maintenance of programs of facilities for the
control of excess water or storm water.
(b) This section does not apply to a municipality with a
population of less than 25,000.
SECTION 29. Section 433(a), Probate Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Mode of Recovery. When funds of an estate have been paid
to the comptroller, any heir, devisee, or legatee of the estate, or
their assigns, or any of them, may recover the portion of such funds
to which he, she, or they are entitled. The person claiming such
funds shall institute suit on or before the fourth anniversary of
the date of the order requiring payment to the comptroller, by
petition filed in the district court of Travis County, against the
comptroller, setting forth the plaintiff's right to such funds, and
the amount claimed by him. Any heir, devisee, legatee, or their
assigns of an estate whose funds were paid to the state treasurer
under this chapter before September 1, 1991, must initiate suit
under this section not later than September 1, 2009.
SECTION 30. Section 74.101(a), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Each holder who on June 30 holds property that is
presumed abandoned under Chapter 72, 73, or 75 of this code or under
Chapter 154, Finance Code, shall file a report of that property on
or before the following November 1. The comptroller may require the
report to be in a particular format, including an electronic [a]
format that can be read by a computer if the holder is reporting 10
or more items of property.
SECTION 31. Section 74.401, Property Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) The comptroller may sell as a gift, novelty, or
collectible item, but not as an investment, a stock, bond,
certificate, or similar instrument that is nonredeemable and
nontransferable because it has been canceled or issued by a company
that has been dissolved or terminated and the existence of which has
not been revived or reinstated. The comptroller may sell an
instrument under this subsection at a public sale or in another
manner determined to be appropriate by the comptroller, including
an online sale. Before selling an instrument under this
subsection, the comptroller must stamp the face of the instrument
with a prominent mark indicating that the instrument has been
canceled. At the time of the sale and of the delivery of the
instrument to the purchaser, the comptroller must provide written
notice to the purchaser as required by this subsection. The notice
must be printed in a font size that is at least as large as the
largest font size on the page of the notice and include statements
substantially similar to the following:
"(1) the comptroller is not a registered
broker-dealer;
(2) this instrument is not being sold for investment
purposes; and
(3) this instrument is nonredeemable and
nontransferable because it has been canceled or issued by a company
that has been dissolved or terminated and the existence of which has
not been revived or reinstated."
SECTION 32. Section 74.507(b), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The person who informs a potential claimant and by
contract or other written agreement is to receive a percentage of
the value of the property may not file or receive a [form to] claim
form on behalf of a claimant.
SECTION 33. Section 74.601, Property Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) If an owner does not assert a claim for unclaimed funds
reported to the comptroller and the owner is reported to be the
state or a state agency, the comptroller may deposit the unclaimed
funds to the credit of the general revenue fund. The comptroller
may establish procedures and adopt rules as necessary to implement
this section.
SECTION 34. Section 623.052(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Before a person may operate a vehicle under this
section, the person must:
(1) contract with the department to indemnify the
department for the cost of the maintenance and repair for damage
caused by a vehicle crossing that part of the highway; and
(2) execute an adequate surety bond to compensate for
the cost of maintenance and repair, approved by [the comptroller
and] the attorney general, with a corporate surety authorized to do
business in this state, conditioned on the person fulfilling each
obligation of the agreement.
SECTION 35. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, this Act takes effect immediately if it receives a
vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect:
(1) the changes, reenactments, and additions in law
made by this Act to the statutes that are not specifically listed in
this section take effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
legislative session; and
(2) the changes in law made by this Act to the
following statutes take effect September 1, 2005:
(A) Section 103.0031, Code of Criminal
Procedure;
(B) Sections 25.0015, 25.00211, 26.007, 74.061,
403.071, 404.024, 660.024, 660.027, and 2256.011, Government Code;
(C) Section 433, Probate Code;
(D) Sections 74.101, 74.401, 74.507, and 74.601,
Property Code; and
(E) Section 623.052, Transportation Code.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act to the following
statutes take effect September 1, 2005:
(1) Section 43.002, Education Code; and
(2) Sections 659.255, 659.256, and 659.257,
Government Code.