BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 726

By: Sheffield

State Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Current law requires many state agencies to mail various publications to state legislators.  Agencies comply with this requirement at great expense because of the reproduction and payroll costs associated with print distribution. Cutting costs and saving money and time wherever possible are important to the state. Conserving paper and reducing paper waste are benefits of electronic distribution. H.B. 726 requires that notice of the availability of an agency publication be sent electronically, rather than by postal mail, and authorizes a legislator to notify the agency electronically of the legislator's decision whether to receive the publication.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 726 amends the Government Code to require a state agency that issues a publication relating to the work of the agency and distributes the publication to members of the legislature to send an electronic notice, rather than a written notice, to each member before distributing the publication to determine whether the member wants to the receive the publication. The bill authorizes a member who elects to receive the publication to notify the agency electronically. The bill requires a state agency, at the time a report required by law is ready for distribution, to notify each member of the legislature electronically, rather than allowing electronic delivery as an alternative to delivery by mail, of the report's availability. The bill removes the condition that electronic delivery of notice be acceptable to the member for the agency's electronic delivery of the notice.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2011.