BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2439

By: Gallego

Government Efficiency & Reform

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The President of the United States recently launched a program to seek ideas from federal employees regarding ways to make government more effective and efficient and to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. By the end of the program's first year, tens of thousands of submissions had been made, some of which were incorporated into the federal budget.

C.S.H.B. 2439 seeks to provide a similar opportunity for the flow of ideas at the state level by requiring certain state agencies to provide certain website links that allow for the submission of ideas on how to make the agency more cost-efficient and that allow for voting on those ideas.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Department of Information Resources in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2439 amends the Government Code to require each state agency that has 1,500 or more employees to post on the agency's intranet website or generally accessible Internet website an electronic form or link allowing an employee of the agency to submit suggestions and ideas on how to make the agency more cost-efficient and a link on the agency's generally accessible Internet website allowing members of the public to monitor, in real time or on a weekly or monthly basis, these submissions and to vote for the public's favorite submission. The bill authorizes the Department of Information Resources (DIR) to exclude a state agency from these requirements if the agency has a preexisting program or link that the DIR determines substantially meets the requirements. The bill establishes that, for purposes of the bill's provisions, "state agency" does not include an institution of higher education. The bill requires the DIR to adopt rules establishing procedures and required formats for implementing the bill's provisions.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2011.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2439 contains a provision not included in the original establishing that, for purposes of the bill's provisions, "state agency" does not include an institution of higher education.

C.S.H.B. 2439 differs from the original by making the bill's provisions applicable to each state agency that has 1,500 or more employees, whereas the original makes its provisions applicable to a state agency that employs more than 1,500 individuals.

C.S.H.B. 2439 differs from the original by specifying an agency's intranet website as an alternative to the agency's generally accessible Internet website for the required posting of an electronic form or link allowing that agency's employees to make cost-efficiency suggestions, whereas the original requires posting of the form or link only on the agency's generally accessible Internet website and requires the form or link to provide for both employees and the public to make such suggestions.

C.S.H.B. 2439 contains a provision not included in the original authorizing the Department of Information Resources to exclude a state agency from the bill's posting requirements if the agency has a preexisting program or link that the department determines substantially meets the requirements.