79R9416 KEG-D
By: Ogden S.B. No. 1616
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to statutory authority for certain governmental entities
to take certain actions to permit the legislature to reduce
appropriations to those agencies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding any statute to the
contrary, the legislature, in its discretion, may determine the
amount of each appropriation of state funds. The amounts required
by statute for entities that receive state funds under the General
Appropriations Act, 79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, may be
reduced or eliminated in order to achieve a balanced budget.
(b) This section expires September 1, 2007.
SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any other statute of this state,
each state agency is authorized to reduce expenditures by:
(1) consolidating any reports or publications the
agency is required to make and filing or delivering any of those
reports or publications exclusively by electronic means;
(2) entering into a contract with another governmental
entity or with a private vendor to carry out any of the agency's
duties;
(3) providing that any communication between the
agency and another person and any document required to be delivered
to or by the agency, including any application, notice, billing
statement, receipt, or certificate, may be made or delivered by
electronic mail or through the Internet; and
(4) adopting and collecting fees or charges to cover
any costs the agency incurs in performing its lawful functions.
SECTION 3. Section 1551.104(a), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Subject to Sections 1551.101 and 1551.102, each
full-time employee is covered automatically by the basic coverage
plan for employees and each annuitant is covered by the basic
coverage plan for annuitants unless:
(1) participation is specifically waived as provided
by Section 1551.1045;
(2) the employee or annuitant is expelled from the
program under Section 1551.351; or
(3) eligibility is otherwise limited by this chapter.
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 1551, Insurance Code, is
amended by adding Section 1551.1045 to read as follows:
Sec. 1551.1045. WAIVER. (a) Subject to Subsection (b), an
employee or annuitant may waive in writing any coverage provided
under this chapter.
(b) To waive coverage under the basic coverage plan, a
full-time employee must demonstrate, in the manner required by the
board of trustees, that the employee is covered by another health
benefit plan that provides substantially equivalent coverage, as
determined by the board of trustees, to the coverage provided by the
basic coverage plan.
SECTION 5. Subchapter E, Chapter 1551, Insurance Code, is
amended by adding Sections 1551.221 and 1551.222 to read as
follows:
Sec. 1551.221. OPTIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL HEALTH COVERAGE FOR
INDIVIDUALS ELIGIBLE UNDER TRICARE MILITARY HEALTH SYSTEM. (a)
The board of trustees shall offer, as an optional coverage under the
group benefits program, a supplemental health coverage program.
(b) Under the supplemental health coverage program, an
employee who is eligible to participate in the group benefits
program and who is also eligible for benefits under the TRICARE
Military Health System may elect to receive primary coverage under
the TRICARE Military Health System. An employee participating in
the supplemental health coverage program does not receive basic
coverage through the group benefits program, but receives
supplemental health coverage under this section.
(c) The cost of supplemental health coverage provided under
this section may be paid in the same manner as the cost of other
optional coverage is paid under Subchapter G.
(d) The board of trustees shall contract to purchase the
supplemental health coverage in accordance with Sections
1551.213-1551.216.
(e) The board of trustees may adopt rules to implement this
section.
Sec. 1551.222. INCENTIVE PAYMENTS. (a) The board of
trustees may allow an incentive payment under this section to an
employee who elects to:
(1) waive coverage under the basic coverage plan for
employees as provided by Section 1551.1045(b); or
(2) participate in the supplemental health coverage
program under Section 1551.221.
(b) The incentive payment authorized by this section is in
the amount authorized by the General Appropriations Act and may be
used by the employee, in the manner prescribed by the board of
trustees, only to pay for other group coverage plans provided under
the group benefits program, including the supplemental health
coverage offered under Section 1551.221.
(c) The board of trustees, at the time of initial enrollment
in the group benefits program and during subsequent open-enrollment
periods, shall inform employees that they may make an election
described by Subsection (a), if eligible, and receive any
authorized incentive payment.
SECTION 6. Subchapter G, Chapter 1551, Insurance Code, is
amended by adding Section 1551.324 to read as follows:
Sec. 1551.324. REDUCTION IN CONTRIBUTION FOR CERTAIN ACTIVE
EMPLOYEES; INCENTIVE PAYMENTS. (a) Notwithstanding any other
provision of this subchapter, the state contribution for an
employee's coverage under this chapter may be reduced, as provided
in the General Appropriations Act, to reflect the reduced cost of
coverage for:
(1) an employee who elects to receive supplemental
health coverage under the program established under Section
1551.221; or
(2) an employee who elects to waive basic coverage as
provided by Section 1551.1045(b).
(b) Instead of the full state contribution for an employee
who makes an election described by Subsection (a), the state may
contribute, as specified by the General Appropriations Act, an
amount for the incentive payment authorized by Section 1551.222.
SECTION 7. Section 659.042, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 659.042. EXCLUSIONS. The following are not entitled
to longevity pay under this subchapter:
(1) a member of the legislature;
(2) an individual who holds a statewide office that is
normally filled by vote of the people;
(3) an independent contractor or an employee of an
independent contractor;
(4) a temporary employee;
(5) an officer or employee of a public junior college;
[or]
(6) an academic employee of a state institution of
higher education; or
(7) a state employee who receives an annuity based
wholly or partly on service as a state officer or state employee in
a public retirement system, as defined by Section 802.001, that was
credited to the state employee.
SECTION 8. Section 659.126, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) An eligible state employee who receives an annuity based
wholly or partly on service as a state officer or state employee in
a public retirement system, as defined by Section 802.001, that was
credited to the state employee is ineligible to receive benefit
replacement pay.
SECTION 9. Section 661.152, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (l) to read as follows:
(l) For purposes of computing vacation leave under
Subsection (d) for a state employee who receives an annuity based
wholly or partly on service as a state officer or state employee in
a public retirement system, as defined by Section 802.001, that was
credited to the state employee, years of total state employment
includes only the length of state employment after the date the
state employee retired.
SECTION 10. Subtitle C, Title 10, Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 2115 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 2115. RECOVERY OF CERTAIN STATE AGENCY OVERPAYMENTS
Sec. 2115.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Overpayment" includes a duplicate payment made to
a vendor for a single invoice and a payment made to a vendor:
(A) when an available discount from the vendor
was not applied;
(B) for a late payment penalty that was
improperly applied by the vendor;
(C) for shipping costs that were computed
incorrectly or incorrectly included in an invoice;
(D) for state sales tax; or
(E) for a good or service the vendor did not
provide.
(2) "State agency" means a department, commission,
board, office, or other agency, including a university system or an
institution of higher education other than a public junior college,
that:
(A) is in the executive branch of state
government;
(B) is created by statute; and
(C) does not have statutory geographical
boundaries limited to a part of the state.
Sec. 2115.002. CONTRACT CONSULTANTS FOR RECOVERY AUDITS FOR
CERTAIN OVERPAYMENTS. (a) The comptroller shall contract with one
or more consultants to conduct recovery audits of payments made by
state agencies to vendors. The audits must be designed to detect
and recover overpayments to the vendors and to recommend improved
state agency accounting operations.
(b) A contract under this section:
(1) may provide for reasonable compensation for
services provided under the contract, including compensation
determined by the application of a specified percentage of the
total amount recovered because of the consultant's audit activities
or recommendations as a fee for services;
(2) may permit or require the consultant to pursue a
judicial action in a court inside or outside this state to recover
an overpaid amount; and
(3) to allow time for the performance of existing
state payment auditing procedures, may not allow a recovery audit
of a payment during the 180-day period after the date the payment
was made.
(c) The comptroller or a state agency whose payments are
being audited may provide a person acting under a contract
authorized by this section with any confidential information in the
custody of the comptroller or state agency that is necessary for the
performance of the audit or the recovery of an overpayment, to the
extent the comptroller and state agency are not prohibited from
sharing the information under an agreement with another state or
the federal government. A person acting under a contract
authorized by this section, and each employee or agent of the
person, is subject to all prohibitions against the disclosure of
confidential information obtained from the state in connection with
the contract that apply to the comptroller or applicable state
agency or an employee of the comptroller or applicable state
agency. A person acting under a contract authorized by this section
or an employee or agent of the person who discloses confidential
information in violation of a prohibition made applicable to the
person under this subsection is subject to the same sanctions and
penalties that would apply to the comptroller or applicable state
agency or an employee of the comptroller or applicable state agency
for that disclosure.
Sec. 2115.003. STATE AGENCIES SUBJECT TO MANDATORY RECOVERY
AUDITS. (a) The comptroller shall require that recovery audits be
performed on the payments to vendors made by each state agency that
has total expenditures during a state fiscal biennium in an amount
that exceeds $100 million. Each state agency described by this
subsection shall provide the recovery audit consultant with all
information necessary for the audit.
(b) The comptroller may exempt from the mandatory recovery
audit process a state agency that has a low proportion of its
expenditures made to vendors, according to criteria the comptroller
adopts by rule after consideration of the likely costs and benefits
of performing recovery audits for agencies that make relatively few
or small payments to vendors.
Sec. 2115.004. PAYMENT TO CONTRACTORS. (a) A state agency
shall pay, from recovered money appropriated for the purpose, the
recovery audit consultant responsible for obtaining for the agency
a reimbursement from a vendor.
(b) A state agency shall expend or return to the federal
government any federal money that is recovered through a recovery
audit conducted under this chapter. The state agency shall expend
or return the federal money in accordance with the rules of the
federal program through which the agency received the federal
money.
Sec. 2115.005. FORWARDING REPORTS. (a) The comptroller
shall provide copies, including electronic form copies, of any
reports received from a consultant contracting under Section
2115.002 to:
(1) the governor;
(2) the state auditor's office; and
(3) the Legislative Budget Board.
(b) The comptroller shall provide the copies required by
Subsection (a) not later than the seventh day after the date the
comptroller receives the consultant's report.
(c) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
comptroller shall issue a report to the legislature summarizing the
contents of all reports received under this chapter during the
state fiscal biennium ending August 31 of the previous year.
SECTION 11. The comptroller shall adopt rules under Chapter
2115, Government Code, as added by this Act, in a timely manner so
that the comptroller may begin contracting with a consultant under
that chapter not later than January 1, 2006.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.