| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the Texas Partnership for Children in Nature. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subtitle D, Title 4, Government Code, is amended |
|
|
by adding Chapter 450 to read as follows: |
|
|
CHAPTER 450. TEXAS PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN IN NATURE |
|
|
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS |
|
|
Sec. 450.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "partnership" |
|
|
means the Texas Partnership for Children in Nature. |
|
|
Sec. 450.002. SUNSET PROVISION. The Texas Partnership for |
|
|
Children in Nature is subject to Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset Act). |
|
|
Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the |
|
|
partnership is abolished and this chapter expires September 1, |
|
|
2021. |
|
|
Sec. 450.003. COMPOSITION OF PARTNERSHIP. The partnership |
|
|
is composed of seven members as follows: |
|
|
(1) three public members as follows, appointed by the |
|
|
governor in consultation with the executive director of the Parks |
|
|
and Wildlife Department and the commissioner of education: |
|
|
(A) one public member who represents |
|
|
parent-teacher organizations; and |
|
|
(B) two public members each of whom represents a |
|
|
nonprofit organization dedicated to education concerning or |
|
|
protection of the environment; and |
|
|
(2) four ex officio members as follows: |
|
|
(A) the executive director of the Parks and |
|
|
Wildlife Department; |
|
|
(B) the commissioner of education; |
|
|
(C) the commissioner of state health services; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(D) the commissioner of agriculture. |
|
|
Sec. 450.004. PUBLIC MEMBERS: ELIGIBILITY; APPOINTMENT; |
|
|
VACANCY. (a) A person appointed as a public member of the |
|
|
partnership must be a resident of this state. |
|
|
(b) Appointments of public members to the partnership shall |
|
|
be made: |
|
|
(1) without regard to the race, color, disability, |
|
|
sex, religion, age, or national origin of an appointee; and |
|
|
(2) so that various geographic areas of this state are |
|
|
represented in the partnership. |
|
|
(c) The governor, in consultation with the executive |
|
|
director of the Parks and Wildlife Department and the commissioner |
|
|
of education, shall fill any vacancy in an appointed position in the |
|
|
partnership for the unexpired portion of the term. |
|
|
Sec. 450.005. EX OFFICIO MEMBERS: ELIGIBILITY; DESIGNATION |
|
|
OF REPRESENTATIVE. (a) An ex officio member of the partnership |
|
|
vacates the person's position in the partnership if the person |
|
|
ceases to hold the position that qualifies the person for service in |
|
|
the partnership. |
|
|
(b) An ex officio member may designate a representative to |
|
|
serve in the partnership in the member's place. A representative |
|
|
designated under this subsection must be an officer or employee of |
|
|
the state agency that employs the ex officio member or of which the |
|
|
ex officio member is an officer. |
|
|
Sec. 450.006. REMOVAL OF PUBLIC MEMBER. (a) It is a ground |
|
|
for removal of a public member from the partnership if the member: |
|
|
(1) is ineligible for public membership under Section |
|
|
450.004(a); |
|
|
(2) cannot because of illness or disability discharge |
|
|
the member's duties for a substantial part of the term for which the |
|
|
member is appointed; or |
|
|
(3) is absent from more than two consecutive |
|
|
partnership meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a |
|
|
calendar year unless the absence is excused by majority vote of the |
|
|
members of the partnership. |
|
|
(b) The validity of an action of the partnership is not |
|
|
affected by the fact that the action is taken when a ground for |
|
|
removal of a partnership member exists. |
|
|
(c) If a member of the partnership has knowledge that a |
|
|
potential ground for removal exists, the member shall notify the |
|
|
presiding officer of the partnership of the potential ground. The |
|
|
presiding officer shall then notify the governor and the attorney |
|
|
general that a potential ground for removal exists. |
|
|
Sec. 450.007. TERM OF PUBLIC MEMBER. (a) A public member |
|
|
of the partnership serves a term of two years. |
|
|
(b) A public member is eligible for reappointment to another |
|
|
term or part of a term. |
|
|
(c) A public member may not serve more than two consecutive |
|
|
terms. For purposes of this prohibition, a member is considered to |
|
|
have served a term only if the member has served more than half of |
|
|
the term. |
|
|
Sec. 450.008. OFFICERS; WORKING GROUPS. (a) The executive |
|
|
director of the Parks and Wildlife Department or the executive |
|
|
director's representative serves as the presiding officer of the |
|
|
partnership. |
|
|
(b) The presiding officer of the partnership may appoint one |
|
|
or more working groups for any purpose consistent with the duties of |
|
|
the partnership under this chapter. |
|
|
Sec. 450.009. COMPENSATION; EXPENSES. (a) A public member |
|
|
of the partnership is not entitled to compensation but is entitled |
|
|
to reimbursement for the travel expenses incurred by the member |
|
|
while transacting partnership business, as provided by the General |
|
|
Appropriations Act. |
|
|
(b) An ex officio member's service in the partnership is an |
|
|
additional duty of the underlying position that qualifies the |
|
|
member for service in the partnership. The entitlement of an ex |
|
|
officio member to compensation or to reimbursement for travel |
|
|
expenses incurred while transacting partnership business is |
|
|
governed by the law that applies to the member's service in that |
|
|
underlying position, and any payment to the member for either |
|
|
purpose must be made from money that may be used for the purpose and |
|
|
is available to the state agency that the member serves in that |
|
|
underlying position. |
|
|
Sec. 450.010. MEETINGS; VOTING; PUBLIC ACCESS. (a) The |
|
|
partnership shall meet at the call of the presiding officer. |
|
|
(b) An ex officio member of the partnership may vote on |
|
|
partnership business. |
|
|
(c) The partnership shall develop and implement policies |
|
|
that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to appear |
|
|
before the partnership and speak on any issue under the |
|
|
jurisdiction of the partnership. |
|
|
Sec. 450.011. STAFF COORDINATION. The Parks and Wildlife |
|
|
Department shall provide staff support to the partnership, in |
|
|
coordination with the Texas Education Agency, the Department of |
|
|
State Health Services, and the Texas Department of Agriculture. |
|
|
[Sections 450.012-450.050 reserved for expansion] |
|
|
SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES; FUNDING |
|
|
Sec. 450.051. ADVISORY STATUS OF PARTNERSHIP. (a) In |
|
|
implementing its powers and duties under this chapter, the |
|
|
partnership functions only in an advisory capacity. Membership in |
|
|
the partnership does not constitute a public office. |
|
|
(b) Chapter 2110 does not apply to the partnership. |
|
|
Sec. 450.052. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF PARTNERSHIP. |
|
|
(a) The partnership shall promote the well-being of this state's |
|
|
children by providing children with opportunities to spend more |
|
|
time outdoors and to learn about the environment through |
|
|
experiential activities outdoors and formal and informal education |
|
|
concerning the environment. To accomplish those purposes, the |
|
|
partnership shall: |
|
|
(1) develop and assist in the implementation of a plan |
|
|
to provide children with structured and unstructured opportunities |
|
|
for outdoor recreation, scientific study, and learning that |
|
|
includes: |
|
|
(A) development and implementation of strategies |
|
|
to provide increased support for programs under which school |
|
|
grounds are converted into natural habitats for play and outdoor |
|
|
classrooms; |
|
|
(B) establishment of trail systems that connect |
|
|
communities, parks, and schools to encourage walking, biking, and |
|
|
increased time outdoors by children and their families; |
|
|
(C) establishment of nature play areas in |
|
|
communities to offer outdoor experiences close to children's homes; |
|
|
(D) establishment, in partnership with the |
|
|
Department of Family and Protective Services, the advisory council |
|
|
on juvenile services, and appropriate community nonprofit |
|
|
organizations, of a statewide civic justice corps to provide |
|
|
students at risk of dropping out of school with opportunities to |
|
|
serve on conservation crews in state parks and on other public land; |
|
|
(E) establishment, in cooperation with school |
|
|
districts, local parks departments, and appropriate nonprofit |
|
|
organizations, of an outdoor classroom program on public land that |
|
|
provides service learning opportunities and voluntary programming |
|
|
aligned with the required curriculum under Section 28.002, |
|
|
Education Code; |
|
|
(F) provision to children and their families of |
|
|
increased access to naturalists who present interpretive |
|
|
activities at state parks and on other public land to enhance |
|
|
discovery and enjoyment of this state's natural resources; and |
|
|
(G) provision to children who are members of |
|
|
minority groups of increased access to state parks and other public |
|
|
land, through partnership with appropriate organizations; |
|
|
(2) develop and assist in the implementation of a |
|
|
state environmental literacy plan that includes: |
|
|
(A) a review of current environmental education |
|
|
in public schools, including student environmental literacy |
|
|
levels; |
|
|
(B) identification of curriculum necessary to |
|
|
develop environmentally literate students; |
|
|
(C) identification of model outdoor field and |
|
|
service learning experiences that can be integrated into the |
|
|
required curriculum under Section 28.002, Education Code; |
|
|
(D) professional development opportunities for |
|
|
professional educators and for students who are in educator |
|
|
preparation programs and development programs for other |
|
|
environmental educators; and |
|
|
(E) methods to annually measure and report, at |
|
|
the state and local levels, progress of public school students |
|
|
toward becoming environmentally literate; |
|
|
(3) devise a method to measure: |
|
|
(A) baseline data concerning the amount of time |
|
|
children spend outdoors; and |
|
|
(B) any increased time children spend outdoors as |
|
|
a result of the partnership's efforts; and |
|
|
(4) identify opportunities for and barriers to |
|
|
implementing environmental literacy programs in public schools and |
|
|
on public land. |
|
|
(b) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, |
|
|
the partnership shall submit a report to the governor, the |
|
|
lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, |
|
|
and the presiding officer of each legislative standing committee |
|
|
with primary jurisdiction over primary and secondary education, |
|
|
natural resources, land and resource management, or environmental |
|
|
regulation regarding the partnership's recommendations concerning |
|
|
the partnership's duties under Subsection (a). |
|
|
(c) The partnership shall adopt rules as necessary for its |
|
|
own procedures. |
|
|
Sec. 450.053. FUNDING. The partnership may accept gifts |
|
|
and grants from a public or private source for the partnership to |
|
|
use in performing the partnership's powers and duties under this |
|
|
chapter. |
|
|
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date |
|
|
of this Act, appointments of public members shall be made to the |
|
|
Texas Partnership for Children in Nature as provided by Chapter |
|
|
450, Government Code, as added by this Act. Notwithstanding |
|
|
Section 450.007, Government Code, as added by this Act, the terms of |
|
|
initial public members appointed to the Texas Partnership for |
|
|
Children in Nature expire February 1, 2011. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |