AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Over the past decade, a number of legislative oversight committees have been created to address certain major changes within industries under the jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce.  These oversight committees are composed of members of the legislature as well as relevant industry or agency representatives and are chaired or co-chaired by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce.  The boards are all required to meet annually and submit biennial reports to the legislature on the industries they oversee.

 

Three of these committees have become obsolete, not having held a meeting or produced a report as required by law since 2004, if ever.  This legislation would eliminate these three oversight committees, allowing the appropriate standing committees of the senate and house of representatives to continue their oversight of those industries.

 

Those committees are: the Electric Utility Restructuring Legislative Oversight Committee, which has not held a hearing since 2003; the Property and Casualty Insurance Oversight Committee, which has not held a hearing since 2004; and the Telecommunications Competitiveness Legislative Oversight Committee, which has never held a hearing.

 

S.B. 781 amends current law relating to the repeal of certain legislative oversight committees and certain rulemaking authority of the Department of Information Resources.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

Rulemaking authority previously granted to the Department of Information Resources is rescinded in SECTION 1 of this bill.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1.  Repealer: Chapter 1801 (Property and Casualty Insurance Legislative Oversight Committee), Insurance Code.

 

Repealer: Section 39.907 (Legislative Oversight Committee), Utilities Code.

 

Repealer: Subchapter F (Legislative Oversight Committee), Chapter 65 (Deregulation of Certain Incumbent Local Exchange Company Markets), Utilities Code.

 

Repealer: Section 2059.060 (Vulnerability Testing of Network Hardware and Software), Government Code.

 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2011.