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79R13577 KEG-F
By: Pitts H.B. No. 2753
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2753:
By: Gattis C.S.H.B. No. 2753
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers, duties, and functions of the Legislative
Budget Board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 60.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 60.03. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION; CONFIDENTIALITY. (a)
Criminal justice agencies, the Legislative Budget Board, and the
council are entitled to access to the data bases of the Department
of Public Safety, the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, the
Texas Youth Commission, and the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice in accordance with applicable state or federal law or
regulations. The access granted by this subsection does not grant
an agency, the Legislative Budget Board, or the council the right to
add, delete, or alter data maintained by another agency.
(b) The council or the Legislative Budget Board may submit
to the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Juvenile Probation
Commission, the Texas Youth Commission, and the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice an annual request for a data file containing data
elements from the departments' systems. The Department of Public
Safety, the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, the Texas Youth
Commission, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall
provide the council and the Legislative Budget Board with that data
file for the period requested, in accordance with state and federal
law and regulations. If the council submits data file requests
other than the annual data file request, the director of the agency
maintaining the requested records must approve the request. The
Legislative Budget Board may submit data file requests other than
the annual data file request without the approval of the director of
the agency maintaining the requested records.
(c) Neither a criminal justice agency, [nor] the council,
nor the Legislative Budget Board may disclose to the public
information in an individual's criminal history record if the
record is protected by state or federal law or regulation.
SECTION 2. Section 42.007(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The Legislative Budget Board shall adopt rules, subject
to appropriate notice and opportunity for public comment, for the
calculation for each year of a biennium of the qualified funding
elements[, in accordance with Subsection (c),] necessary to achieve
the state policy under Section 42.001.
SECTION 3. Sections 322.003(d) and (e), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(d) As an exception to Chapter 551 and other law, if a
meeting is located in Austin and the joint chairs of the board are
physically present at the [a] meeting, then any number of the other
members of the board may attend a meeting of the board by use of
telephone conference call, video conference call, or other similar
telecommunication device. This subsection applies for purposes of
constituting a quorum, for purposes of voting, and for any other
purpose allowing a member of the board to otherwise fully
participate in any meeting of the board. This subsection applies
without exception with regard to the subject of the meeting or
topics considered by the members.
(e) A meeting held by use of telephone conference call,
video conference call, or other similar telecommunication device:
(1) is subject to the notice requirements applicable
to other meetings;
(2) must specify in the notice of the meeting the
location in Austin of the meeting at which the joint chairs will be
physically present;
(3) must be open to the public and shall be audible to
the public at the location in Austin specified in the notice of the
meeting as the location of the meeting at which the joint chairs
will be physically present; and
(4) must provide two-way audio communication between
all members of the board attending the meeting during the entire
meeting, and if the two-way audio communication link with any
member attending the meeting is disrupted at any time, the meeting
may not continue until the two-way audio communication link is
reestablished.
SECTION 4. Section 322.005, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 322.005. PERSONNEL. (a) The director[, with the
approval of the board,] may employ [necessary clerical and
stenographic] personnel as necessary to perform the functions of
the board.
(b) The director [board] shall set the salaries of the
personnel employed by the director.
SECTION 5. Section 322.016, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) All information, documentary or otherwise, prepared or
maintained in conducting a review under this section or preparing a
report of the findings of a review under this section, including
intra-agency and interagency communications and drafts of the
review report or portions of those drafts, is excepted from
required public disclosure as audit working papers under Section
552.116.
SECTION 6. Section 322.0165, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) All information, documentary or otherwise, prepared or
maintained in conducting a review under this section or preparing a
report of the findings of a review under this section, including
intra-agency and interagency communications and drafts of the
review report or portions of those drafts, is excepted from
required public disclosure as audit working papers under Section
552.116.
SECTION 7. Section 322.017, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) All information, documentary or otherwise, prepared or
maintained in conducting an efficiency review under this section or
preparing a report of the findings of an efficiency review under
this section, including intra-agency and interagency
communications and drafts of the review report or portions of those
drafts, is excepted from required public disclosure as audit
working papers under Section 552.116.
SECTION 8. Chapter 322, Government Code, is amended by
adding Sections 322.019-322.021 to read as follows:
Sec. 322.019. CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS.
Communications, including conversations, correspondence, and
electronic communications, between a member of the legislature or
the lieutenant governor and an assistant or employee of the board
that relate to a request by the official for information, advice, or
opinions from an assistant or employee of the board are
confidential. Information, advice, and opinions given privately by
an assistant or employee of the board to a member of the
legislature, or the lieutenant governor, acting in the person's
official capacity, are confidential. However, the member or
lieutenant governor may choose to disclose all or a part of the
communications, information, advice, or opinions to which this
section applies, and such a disclosure does not violate the law of
this state.
Sec. 322.020. BUDGET HEARINGS. (a) In this section,
"state agency" means a board, commission, department, or other
agency in the executive or judicial branch of state government.
(b) The board may hold one or more public hearings
concerning the appropriation request of any state agency. The
board may delegate the authority to hold a hearing to a committee of
the board or to board staff.
(c) The head of a state agency that is seeking
appropriations is entitled to speak at a hearing under this section
at which the appropriation request is considered. The board may
require the head or any employee of a state agency seeking
appropriations to appear at the hearing and present information
about the appropriations. A taxpayer is entitled to participate in
the discussion at a hearing under this section of any item proposed
to be included in the budget under consideration.
Sec. 322.021. CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY ANALYSIS. (a) The
board may develop and perform functions to promote a more effective
and cohesive state criminal justice system.
(b) The board may serve as the statistical analysis center
for the state and as the liaison for the state to the United States
Department of Justice on criminal justice issues of interest to the
state and federal government relating to data, information systems,
and research, if the Criminal Justice Policy Council is unable to
perform those functions.
(c) The director may consult the lieutenant governor, the
speaker of the house of representatives, and the presiding officer
of each standing committee of the senate and house of
representatives having primary jurisdiction over matters relating
to criminal justice and state finance or appropriations from the
state treasury.
(d) The Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice, the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, and the
Texas Youth Commission shall provide the board with data relating
to a criminal justice policy analysis under this section in the
manner requested.
SECTION 9. (a) Section 109.0015, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is repealed.
(b) Sections 42.007(c) and (d), Education Code, are
repealed.
(c) The subchapter headings to Subchapter B, Chapter 319,
Government Code, and to Subchapter A, Chapter 322, Government Code,
are repealed.
(d) Subchapter A, Chapter 319, Government Code, is
repealed.
(e) Sections 322.006, 656.105, 668.002, and 2152.064,
Government Code, are repealed.
SECTION 10. 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, this Act takes effect September 1, 2005.