By: Krause H.B. No. 204
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to zero-based budgeting for certain entities funded by
  this state and requiring a state agency that is undergoing review by
  the Sunset Advisory Commission to undergo a financial audit and
  submit a zero-based budget in connection with the review.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 322.007, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 322.007.  ESTIMATES AND REPORTS; SCHEDULED ZERO-BASED
  BUDGET PLANNING. (a)  Each institution, department, agency,
  officer, employee, or agent of the state shall submit to the board
  any estimate or report relating to appropriations requested by the
  board or under the board's direction.
         (b)  The board shall adopt a schedule for the submission of
  zero-based budget plans by institutions, departments, and agencies
  of this state so that:
               (1)  one-third of the entities, or as near as possible
  to one-third of the entities, is scheduled to submit a zero-based
  budget plan before each regular legislative session; and
               (2)  each entity is scheduled to submit a zero-based
  budget plan before every third regular legislative session.
         (c)  Each institution, department, and agency of this state
  that receives an appropriation shall submit to the board a
  zero-based budget plan in accordance with the schedule adopted
  under Subsection (b).  A zero-based budget plan must contain:
               (1)  a description of the discrete activities the
  entity is charged with conducting or performing together with a
  justification for each activity by reference to a statute or other
  legal authority;
               (2)  for each activity identified under Subdivision
  (1), a quantitative estimate of any adverse effects that reasonably
  may be expected to result if the activity were discontinued,
  together with a description of the methods by which the adverse
  effects were estimated;
               (3)  for each activity identified under Subdivision
  (1), an itemized account of expenditures required to maintain the
  activity at the minimum level of service required by the statute or
  other legal authority, together with a concise statement of the
  quantity and quality of service required at that minimum level;
               (4)  for each activity identified under Subdivision
  (1), an itemized account of expenditures required to maintain the
  activity at the current level of service, together with a concise
  statement of the quantity and quality of service provided at that
  level; and
               (5)  a ranking of activities identified under
  Subdivision (1) that illustrates the relative importance of each
  activity to the overall goals and purposes of the institution,
  department, or agency at current service levels.
         (d)  Each zero-based budget plan and each estimate or report
  shall be submitted at a time set by the board and in the manner and
  form prescribed by board rules.
         (e)  Each zero-based budget plan and each [(c) An] estimate
  or report required under this section is in addition to a budget
  plan or an estimate or report required by other law, including those
  estimates or reports relating to appropriations required by Chapter
  401.
         SECTION 2.  Section 322.008(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  Based on information provided under Section 322.007,
  the [The] director, under the direction of the board, shall prepare
  the general appropriations bill for introduction at each regular
  legislative session.
         SECTION 3.  Section 401.0445(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  The governor shall compile the biennial appropriation
  budget using information:
               (1)  submitted to the governor in the uniform budget
  estimate forms; [and]
               (2)  obtained at public hearings, from inspections, and
  from other sources; and
               (3)  submitted to the Legislative Budget Board under
  Section 322.007.
         SECTION 4.  Section 325.007, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 325.007.  AGENCY REPORT TO COMMISSION.  (a)  Before
  September 1 of the odd-numbered year before the year in which a
  state agency subject to this chapter is abolished, the agency shall
  report to the commission:
               (1)  information regarding the application to the
  agency of the criteria in Section 325.011; and
               (2)  any other information that the agency considers
  appropriate or that is requested by the commission.
         (b)  Before November 1 of the odd-numbered year before the
  year in which a state agency subject to this chapter is abolished,
  the agency shall present to the commission a zero-based budget for
  the state fiscal year that begins on the date the agency is
  scheduled to be abolished that:
               (1)  describes the discrete activities the entity is
  charged with conducting or performing together with a justification
  for each activity by reference to a statute or other legal
  authority;
               (2)  for each activity identified under Subdivision
  (1), a quantitative estimate of any adverse effects that reasonably
  may be expected to result if the activity were discontinued,
  together with a description of the methods by which the adverse
  effects were estimated;
               (3)  for each activity identified under Subdivision
  (1), an itemized account of expenditures required to maintain the
  activity at the minimum level of service required by the statute or
  other legal authority, together with a concise statement of the
  quantity and quality of service required at that minimum level;
               (4)  for each activity identified under Subdivision
  (1), an itemized account of expenditures required to maintain the
  activity at the current level of service, together with a concise
  statement of the quantity and quality of service provided at that
  level; and
               (5)  a ranking of activities identified under
  Subdivision (1) that illustrates the relative importance of each
  activity to the overall goals and purposes of the institution,
  department, or agency at current service levels.
         (c) [(b)]  The reports under Subsections (a) and (b) must be
  submitted in electronic format only.  The commission shall
  prescribe the electronic format to be used.
         SECTION 5.  Chapter 325, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Section 325.0075 to read as follows:
         Sec. 325.0075.  FINANCIAL AUDIT.  The state auditor shall
  conduct a financial audit under Section 321.0131 of each state
  agency scheduled to be abolished on a date certain if not continued
  in accordance with this chapter.  The state auditor shall conduct
  the audit at a time so that the completed audit may be sent to the
  commission on September 1 of the odd-numbered year before the year
  the agency is scheduled to be abolished.
         SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by Sections 1, 2 and, 3
  apply only in regard to information for developing a biennial
  appropriation budget for a state fiscal biennium beginning on or
  after the effective date of this Act.  The changes in law made by
  Sections 4 and 5 apply only in relation to the review by the Sunset
  Advisory Commission of agencies scheduled to be abolished on or
  after September 1, 2017, if not continued in accordance with
  Chapter 325, Government Code, and in relation to any other agencies
  that by law are reviewed during those review periods by the Sunset
  Advisory Commission.
         
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.