Honorable Kel Seliger, Chair, Senate Committee on Higher Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB31 by Branch (relating to certain requirements applicable to meetings of the governing board of a general academic teaching institution or a state university system.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill amends the Government Code as it relates to certain requirements applicable to meetings of the governing board of a general academic teaching institution or a state university system. For such meetings, the governing board must post on its website the written agenda and any related supplemental materials provided to the board members for their use during the meeting unless the written materials are confidential or protected from disclosure under Chapter 552 of the Government Code. The bill requires the meeting, except for those portions that are closed to the public, must be broadcast on the internet. The broadcast must be recorded and publicly available in an online archive located on the institution's or university system's Internet website. This provision applies only to meetings for which notice is given per Chapter 551 of the Government Code on or after January 14, 2014. The bill includes a provision that the governing board is not required to comply with the requirements of this section if that compliance is not possible because of an act of God, force majeure, or a similar cause not reasonably within the governing board's control. Any costs associated with implementing provisions of the bill would be absorbed within existing resources.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 783 University of Houston System Administration