By: Swinford H.B. No. 2699
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2699:
By: Keffer of Eastland C.S.H.B. No. 2699
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Department of Information Resources.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2170.001(a)(2), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 2170.001(a)(2). "Telecommunications Services"
means communications facilities or services. The term does not
include single agency point-to-point radio systems or facilities
systems. The term does include services over converged networks.
SECTION 2. Section 2054.1185, Government Code, is hereby
repealed.
SECTION 3. Section 2170.003, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Section 2170.003. OWNERSHIP OR LEASE OF NECESSARY
EQUIPMENT. (a) The department may own, lease, or lease–purchase
in accordance with Chapters 2155, 2156, 2157, and 2158 any and all
of the facilities or equipment necessary to provide
telecommunications services. The department may acquire
telecommunications services without competitive bid from the
Lonestar Education and Research Network (LEARN) or its successors
for the purposes established in subsection (b).
(b) During an emergency, a single node failure or a system wide
failure of the consolidated telecommunications system, the
department may divert telecommunications services traffic to LEARN
to avoid service interruption. Upon resolution of the emergency
and upon determination that the consolidated telecommunications
system is operational, traffic will be diverted back to the
consolidated telecommunications system. The department may also
use LEARN for the purposes of latency tolerant date transfer of
files to or from a consolidated state data center established and
operated by the department. The LEARN shall be exclusively used by
the department only for the purposes set out in this section.
SECTION 4. Section 2054.021, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Section 2054.021(d). An ex officio member may designate the
information resources manager or another senior manager of the
member's agency to serve in the member's place.
SECTION 5. Section 771.031, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) to read as follows:
(b) the following individuals serve as nonvoting ex officio
members:
(1) the executive director of the Public Utility
Commission of Texas, or an individual designated by the executive
director;
(2) the executive director of the [General Services
Commission] Department of Information Resources, or an individual
designated by the executive director; and
(3) the commissioner of public health, or an
individual who has responsibility for the poison control network
designated by the commissioner.
SECTION 6. Section 2170.004, Government Code is amended to
read as follows:
Section 2170.004. CONTRACTS WITH ENTITIES OTHER THAN STATE
AGENCIES. The department may contract for use of the consolidated
telecommunications system with:
(1) each house of the legislature;
(2) a legislative agency;
(3) an agency that is not a state agency as defined by
Section 2151.002
(4) a political subdivision, including a county,
municipality, or district; [and]
(5) a private institution of higher education
accredited by a recognized accrediting agency, as defined by
Section 61.003, Education Code, that:
(A) engages in distance learning, as defined by
Section 57.021, Utilities Code, and
(B) receives federal funds for distance learning
initiatives; and
(6) a private business or other entity that serves a
state agency through an existing contract for services in support
of the core mission of the state agency, where:
(a) the contracted entity's use of the consolidated
telecommunications system would result in cost savings to the state
agency under the related service contract, and
(b) the department would contract with the private business or
other entity only because of a telecommunications network
consolidation project between the state agency and the department.
SECTION 7. Section 7 of Chapter 432, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is hereby repealed.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.