BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1487

By: Harper-Brown

Government Efficiency & Reform

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The comptroller of public accounts maintains a searchable online database of information relating to state expenditures, contracts, and grants. Interested citizens, members of the media, vendors, and state agencies alike are able to use interactive search tools to view various levels of state expenditures. Some of the expenditure categories provide plentiful detail, but the grant category provides few specifics about how the grant recipient used the money. In the interest of greater transparency and accountability, C.S.H.B. 1487 seeks to provide the public with more information about how grant money is used.

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

C.S.H.B. 1487 amends the Government Code to require the searchable database of state expenditures maintained by the comptroller of public accounts to allow users to ascertain the specific purposes for which a state expenditure in the form of a grant was used, unless the comptroller determines that the agency that awarded the grant substantially complies with the requirement by providing the information through an electronic link on the agency's generally accessible Internet website or through another agency program or database.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1487 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

INTRODUCED	HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
SECTION 1.  Section 403.024(c), Government Code, is amended to read as follows: (c)  To the extent possible, the comptroller shall present information in the database established under this section in a manner that is searchable and intuitive to users.  The comptroller shall enhance and organize the presentation of the information through the use of graphical representations, such as pie charts, as the comptroller considers appropriate.  At a minimum, the database must allow users to: (1)  search and aggregate state funding by any element of the information; (2)  ascertain through a single search the total amount of state funding awarded to a person by a state agency; [and] (3)  download information yielded by a search of the database; and (4)  for a state expenditure in the form of a grant, ascertain the specific purposes for which the grant money was used. No equivalent provision.	SECTION 1.  Section 403.024, Government Code, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows: (c)  To the extent possible, the comptroller shall present information in the database established under this section in a manner that is searchable and intuitive to users.  The comptroller shall enhance and organize the presentation of the information through the use of graphical representations, such as pie charts, as the comptroller considers appropriate.  At a minimum, the database must allow users to: (1)  search and aggregate state funding by any element of the information; (2)  ascertain through a single search the total amount of state funding awarded to a person by a state agency; [and] (3)  download information yielded by a search of the database; and (4)  for a state expenditure in the form of a grant, ascertain the specific purposes for which the grant money was used. (c-1)  Subsection (c)(4) does not apply to information relating to a state expenditure in the form of a grant if the comptroller determines that the state agency that awarded the grant substantially complies with that provision by providing the information to the public through: (1)  an electronic link on the agency's generally accessible Internet website; or (2)  another agency program or database.
SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.	SECTION 2. Same as introduced version.