LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 82ND LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
May 25, 2011

TO:
Honorable Joe Straus, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
 
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB2439 by Gallego (Relating to posting suggestions and ideas on cost-efficiency and certain budget documents on certain state agency websites. ), As Passed 2nd House

There could be an indeterminate cost to the state from provisions of the bill relating to posting cost-efficiency suggestions and ideas on certain state agency websites.

The bill would amend the Government Code and Utilities Code relating to agency websites.

The bill would require a state agency with at least 1,500 employees to post on the agency’s intranet website or generally accessible Internet website an electronic form or link allowing an employee to submit suggestions and ideas on how to make the agency more cost-efficient. The bill would require the agencies to post on their generally accessible Internet websites a link allowing members of the public to monitor the suggestions and vote for their favorite submissions. The bill would require the Department of Information Resources (DIR) to adopt rules establishing procedures and required formats.

 

The bill would require state agencies and institutions of higher education to post high-value data sets, as defined by the bill, on their generally accessible Internet website if it is determined that such information can be posted at no additional cost to the state or if a gift or grant becomes available for this purpose. High-value data sets are required to be raw data in an open standard format that allows the public to search, extract, organize, and analyze the information.
 
It is anticipated that costs to implement provisions of the bill relating to posting cost-efficiency suggestions and ideas would range from $0 to approximately $100,000 for an affected agency for the 2012-13 biennium. Factors affecting costs would vary based on rules adopted by DIR and standards for general accessibility, which could include: screen readers, Braille terminals, screen recognition, screen magnification and speech recognition. Costs may include subscription or licensing of applications; application development; programming; and maintenance. It is anticipated that costs to post high-value data sets on Internet websites could be absorbed within existing resources.

The bill would direct the Legislative Budget Board to post on the Internet all documents prepared by the board that are provided to a committee, subcommittee, or conference committee of either house of the Legislature in connection with an appropriations bill.  It is estimated that this responsibility could be performed using existing resources.
 

The bill would require the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to publish and maintain a website that allows customers to view competitive offers from retail electric providers. The bill would require the PUC to: establish a project to implement the website; establish protocols for the frequency with which information is updated; and consult and cooperate with other state agencies in the design of the website. The bill would allow the PUC to accept funds from any source and makes implementation of the bill contingent on a finding by the PUC that complete funding exists or is likely to exist for this purpose.  It is assumed that these responsibilities could be performed within existing resources.


The bill's requirement to post on the Internet all documents prepared in connection with an appropriations bill may conflict with exemptions and privileges provided elsewhere under the law.

Local Government Impact

No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.


Source Agencies:
LBB Staff:
JOB, KM, LCO