S.B. No. 1000
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to self-directed and semi-independent status of the Texas
  Real Estate Commission; making an appropriation.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subtitle A, Title 7, Occupations Code, is
  amended by adding Chapter 1105 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 1105.  SELF-DIRECTED AND SEMI-INDEPENDENT STATUS OF
  TEXAS REAL ESTATE COMMISSION
         Sec. 1105.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this section:
               (1)  "Agency" means the commission and the board.
               (2)  "Board" means the Texas Appraiser Licensing and
  Certification Board.
               (3)  "Commission" means the Texas Real Estate
  Commission.
         Sec. 1105.002.  SELF-DIRECTED AND SEMI-INDEPENDENT STATUS.
  (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the agency is
  self-directed and semi-independent as specified by this chapter.
  Any Act of the 82nd Legislature that relates to the agency and that
  is inconsistent with the agency being self-directed and
  semi-independent may be implemented by the administrator of the
  agency only on authorization by the agency.
         (b)  This chapter does not affect the board's status as an
  independent subdivision of the commission as provided by Section
  1103.051.
         Sec. 1105.003.  BUDGET, REVENUES, AND EXPENSES.
  (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including the
  General Appropriations Act, the commission and the board shall each
  adopt a separate budget annually using generally accepted
  accounting principles.
         (b)  The commission shall be responsible for all direct and
  indirect costs of the commission's existence and operation. The
  board shall be responsible for all direct and indirect costs of the
  board's existence and operation.  The agency may not directly or
  indirectly cause the general revenue fund to incur any cost.
         (c)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
  commission and the board may each set the amounts of the respective
  fees, penalties, charges, and revenues required or permitted by
  statute or rule as necessary for the purpose of carrying out the
  separate functions of the commission and the board and funding the
  respective budgets of the commission and the board adopted and
  approved under Subsection (a).
         (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), all fees and funds
  collected by the commission or the board and any funds appropriated
  to the commission or the board shall be deposited in
  interest-bearing deposit accounts in the Texas Treasury
  Safekeeping Trust Company. The comptroller shall contract with the
  commission and the board for the maintenance of the deposit
  accounts under terms comparable to a contract between a commercial
  banking institution and the institution's customers.
         (e)  A fee collected under:
               (1)  Section 1101.153(b)(2) shall be deposited in Fund
  0193 in the state treasury; and
               (2)  Section 1101.153(b)(3) shall be deposited in Fund
  0001 in the state treasury.
         (f)  Not later than August 31 of each fiscal year, the agency
  shall remit $750,000 to the general revenue fund.
         (g)  The fiscal year for the agency begins on September 1 and
  ends on August 31.
         Sec. 1105.004.  AUDITS. (a)  This chapter does not affect
  the duty of the state auditor to audit the agency. The state
  auditor shall enter into a contract and schedule with the agency to
  conduct audits.
         (b)  Not later than August 31 of each fiscal year, the agency
  shall remit a nonrefundable retainer to the state auditor in an
  amount not less than $10,000.  The agency shall reimburse the state
  auditor for all costs incurred, in excess of the aggregate
  nonrefundable retainer amounts paid each fiscal year, in performing
  the audits and shall provide to the governor a copy of any audit
  performed.
         Sec. 1105.005.  RECORDS; REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. (a)  The
  agency shall keep financial and statistical information as
  necessary to disclose completely and accurately the financial
  condition and results of operations of the agency.
         (b)  Before the beginning of each regular session of the
  legislature, the agency shall submit to the legislature and the
  governor a report describing all of the agency's activities in the
  previous biennium. The report must include:
               (1)  an audit as required by Section 1105.004;
               (2)  a financial report of the previous fiscal year,
  including reports on the financial condition and results of
  operations;
               (3)  a description of all changes in fees imposed on
  regulated persons;
               (4)  a report on changes in the regulatory jurisdiction
  of the agency; and
               (5)  a list of all new rules adopted or repealed.
         (c)  In addition to the reporting requirements of Subsection
  (b), not later than November 1 of each year, the agency shall submit
  to the governor, the committee of each house of the legislature that
  has jurisdiction over appropriations, and the Legislative Budget
  Board a report that contains:
               (1)  the salary for all agency personnel and the total
  amount of per diem expenses and travel expenses paid for all agency
  employees;
               (2)  the total amount of per diem expenses and travel
  expenses paid for each member of the agency;
               (3)  the agency's operating plan and the annual budgets
  of the commission and the board; and
               (4)  a detailed report of all revenue received and all
  expenses incurred by the agency in the previous 12 months.
         Sec. 1105.006.  ABILITY TO CONTRACT. (a)  To carry out and
  promote the objectives of this chapter, the commission or board may
  enter into contracts and do all other acts incidental to those
  contracts that are necessary for the administration of the
  commission's or board's respective affairs and for the attainment
  of the commission's or board's respective purposes, except as
  limited by Subsection (b).
         (b)  Any indebtedness, liability, or obligation of the
  commission or board incurred under this section may not:
               (1)  create a debt or other liability of this state or
  another entity other than the commission or board, as appropriate;
  or
               (2)  create any personal liability on the part of the
  members or employees of the agency.
         Sec. 1105.007.  PROPERTY. The commission or board may:
               (1)  acquire by purchase, lease, gift, or any other
  manner provided by law and maintain, use, and operate any real,
  personal, or mixed property, or any interest in property, necessary
  or convenient to the exercise of the respective powers, rights,
  privileges, or functions of the commission or board;
               (2)  sell or otherwise dispose of any real, personal,
  or mixed property, or any interest in property, that the commission
  or board, as appropriate, determines is not necessary or convenient
  to the exercise of the commission's or board's respective powers,
  rights, privileges, or functions;
               (3)  construct, extend, improve, maintain, and
  reconstruct, or cause to construct, extend, improve, maintain, and
  reconstruct, and use and operate all facilities necessary or
  convenient to the exercise of the respective powers, rights,
  privileges, or functions of the commission or board; and
               (4)  borrow money, as may be authorized from time to
  time by an affirmative vote of a two-thirds majority of the
  commission or board, as appropriate, for a period not to exceed five
  years if necessary or convenient to the exercise of the
  commission's or board's respective powers, rights, privileges, or
  functions.
         Sec. 1105.008.  SUITS. (a)  The office of the attorney
  general shall represent the agency in any litigation.
         (b)  Not later than August 31 of each fiscal year, the agency
  shall remit a nonrefundable retainer to the office of the attorney
  general in an amount of not less than $75,000.  The nonrefundable
  retainer shall be applied to any services provided to the agency.  
  If additional litigation services are required, the attorney
  general may assess and collect from the agency reasonable
  attorney's fees, in excess of the aggregate nonrefundable retainer
  amount paid each fiscal year, associated with any litigation under
  this section.
         Sec. 1105.009.  ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS. (a)  Not later
  than August 31 of each fiscal year, the agency shall remit a
  nonrefundable retainer to the State Office of Administrative
  Hearings in an amount of not less than $75,000 for hearings
  conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings under a
  law administered by the commission or the board.
         (b)  The nonrefundable retainer shall be applied to the costs
  associated with conducting the hearings.  If additional costs are
  incurred, the State Office of Administrative Hearings may assess
  and collect from the agency reasonable fees, in excess of the
  nonrefundable retainer amount paid each fiscal year, associated
  with conducting the hearings.
         Sec. 1105.010.  POST-PARTICIPATION LIABILITY. (a)  If the
  agency no longer has status under this chapter as a self-directed
  semi-independent agency for any reason, the agency shall be liable
  for any expenses or debts incurred by the agency during the time the
  agency was a self-directed semi-independent agency. The agency's
  liability under this section includes liability for any lease
  entered into by the agency. This state is not liable for any
  expense or debt covered by this subsection, and money from the
  general revenue fund may not be used to repay the expense or debt.
         (b)  If the agency no longer has status under this chapter as
  a self-directed semi-independent agency for any reason, ownership
  of any property or other asset acquired by the agency during the
  time the agency was a self-directed semi-independent agency,
  including unexpended fees in a deposit account in the Texas
  Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company, shall be transferred to this
  state.
         Sec. 1105.011.  DUE PROCESS; OPEN GOVERNMENT. The
  commission and the board are governmental bodies for purposes of
  Chapters 551 and 552, Government Code.  The commission is a state
  agency for purposes of Chapters 2001 and 2005, Government Code.
         Sec. 1105.012.  MEMBERSHIP IN EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
  Employees of the agency are members of the Employees Retirement
  System of Texas under Chapter 812, Government Code, and the
  commission's and the board's transition to independent status as
  provided by this chapter has no effect on their membership or any
  benefits under that system.
         SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 1101.059, Occupations
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (c)  A person appointed to the commission is entitled to
  reimbursement[, as provided by the General Appropriations Act,] for
  the travel expenses incurred in attending the training program
  regardless of whether the attendance at the program occurs before
  or after the person qualifies for office.
         SECTION 3.  Subsection (d), Section 1101.101, Occupations
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (d)  The commission shall determine the salaries of the
  administrator, officers, and employees of the commission. [The
  amounts of the salaries may not exceed the amounts specified by the
  General Appropriations Act.]
         SECTION 4.  Subsection (b), Section 1103.103, Occupations
  Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 5.  (a)  To provide a reasonable period for the
  Texas Real Estate Commission to establish itself as a self-directed
  and semi-independent agency under Chapter 1105, Occupations Code,
  as added by this Act, the following amounts are appropriated out of
  the general revenue fund:
               (1)  for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2012,
  an amount equal to 50 percent of the amount of general revenue
  appropriated to the agency for the state fiscal year ending August
  31, 2011; and
               (2)  for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2013,
  an amount equal to 50 percent of the amount of general revenue
  appropriated to the agency for the state fiscal year ending August
  31, 2011.
         (b)  Subject to Chapter 1105, Occupations Code, as added by
  this Act, the appropriations made by Subsection (a) of this section
  may be spent by the Texas Real Estate Commission as the commission
  directs.  The Texas Real Estate Commission shall repay to the
  general revenue fund the appropriation made to the commission for
  the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2012, not later than that
  date and as funds become available.  The Texas Real Estate
  Commission shall repay to the general revenue fund the
  appropriation made to the commission for the state fiscal year
  ending August 31, 2013, not later than that date and as funds become
  available.
         SECTION 6.  The transfer of the Texas Real Estate Commission
  to self-directed and semi-independent status under Chapter 1105,
  Occupations Code, as added by this Act, and the expiration of
  self-directed and semi-independent status may not act to cancel,
  suspend, or prevent:
               (1)  any debt owed to or by the commission or the Texas
  Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board;
               (2)  any fine, tax, penalty, or obligation of any
  party;
               (3)  any contract or other obligation of any party; or
               (4)  any action taken by the commission or the board in
  the administration or enforcement of the commission's or the
  board's duties.
         SECTION 7.  The Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas
  Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board shall continue to have
  and exercise the powers and duties allocated to the commission or
  the board in the commission's or the board's enabling legislation,
  except as specifically amended by this Act.
         SECTION 8.  Title to or ownership of all supplies,
  materials, records, equipment, books, papers, and furniture used by
  the Texas Real Estate Commission or the Texas Appraiser Licensing
  and Certification Board is transferred to the commission or the
  board, respectively. This Act does not affect any property owned by
  the commission or the board on or before the effective date of this
  Act.
         SECTION 9.  The Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas
  Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board shall relocate to
  state-owned office space not later than September 1, 2011, and
  shall pay rent to this state in a reasonable amount to be determined
  by the Texas Facilities Commission for the use and occupancy of the
  office space.  Aggregate rental payments may not be less than
  $550,000 per fiscal year for the state fiscal years ending August
  31, 2012, and August 31, 2013.  Aggregate rental payments may not be
  less than $425,000 per fiscal year for each state fiscal year ending
  August 31, 2014, August 31, 2015, and August 31, 2016.
         SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
 
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1000 passed the Senate on
  April 20, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
  the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2011, by the
  following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0; passed subject to the provisions
  of Article III, Section 49a, of the Constitution of Texas.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1000 passed the House, with
  amendment, on May 23, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 147,
  Nays 0, two present not voting; passed subject to the provisions of
  Article III, Section 49a, of the Constitution of Texas.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
             Date
  I, Susan Combs, Comptroller of
  Public Accounts, do hereby
  ______________________________    certify that the amounts
  Governor                appropriated in the herein
  S.B. No. 1000, Regular Session,
  82nd Legislature, are within the
  amount estimated to be available
  in the affected fund.
  Certified ______________, 2011.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Comptroller of Public Accounts