87S10251 BEF-D
 
  By: Johnson of Dallas H.B. No. 231
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the applicability of the public information law to
  independent organizations certified to manage a power region.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 552.003(1), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
               (1)  "Governmental body":
                     (A)  means:
                           (i)  a board, commission, department,
  committee, institution, agency, or office that is within or is
  created by the executive or legislative branch of state government
  and that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members;
                           (ii)  a county commissioners court in the
  state;
                           (iii)  a municipal governing body in the
  state;
                           (iv)  a deliberative body that has
  rulemaking or quasi-judicial power and that is classified as a
  department, agency, or political subdivision of a county or
  municipality;
                           (v)  a school district board of trustees;
                           (vi)  a county board of school trustees;
                           (vii)  a county board of education;
                           (viii)  the governing board of a special
  district;
                           (ix)  the governing body of a nonprofit
  corporation organized under Chapter 67, Water Code, that provides a
  water supply or wastewater service, or both, and is exempt from ad
  valorem taxation under Section 11.30, Tax Code;
                           (x)  a local workforce development board
  created under Section 2308.253;
                           (xi)  a nonprofit corporation that is
  eligible to receive funds under the federal community services
  block grant program and that is authorized by this state to serve a
  geographic area of the state;
                           (xii)  a confinement facility operated under
  a contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal
  Justice;
                           (xiii)  a civil commitment housing facility
  owned, leased, or operated by a vendor under contract with the state
  as provided by Chapter 841, Health and Safety Code;
                           (xiv)  an entity that receives public funds
  in the current or preceding state fiscal year to manage the daily
  operations or restoration of the Alamo, or an entity that oversees
  such an entity; [and]
                           (xv)  the part, section, or portion of an
  organization, corporation, commission, committee, institution, or
  agency that spends or that is supported in whole or in part by
  public funds; and
                           (xvi)  an independent organization
  established under Section 39.151, Utilities Code; and
                     (B)  does not include:
                           (i)  the judiciary; or
                           (ii)  an economic development entity whose
  mission or purpose is to develop and promote the economic growth of
  a state agency or political subdivision with which the entity
  contracts if:
                                 (a)  the entity does not receive $1
  million or more in public funds from a single state agency or
  political subdivision in the current or preceding state fiscal
  year; or
                                 (b)  the entity:
                                       (1)  either:
                                             (A)  does not have the
  authority to make decisions or recommendations on behalf of a state
  agency or political subdivision regarding tax abatements or tax
  incentives; or
                                             (B)  does not require an
  officer of the state agency or political subdivision to hold office
  as a member of the board of directors of the entity;
                                       (2)  does not use staff or office
  space of the state agency or political subdivision for no or nominal
  consideration, unless the space is available to the public;
                                       (3)  to a reasonable degree,
  tracks the entity's receipt and expenditure of public funds
  separately from the entity's receipt and expenditure of private
  funds; and
                                       (4)  provides at least quarterly
  public reports to the state agency or political subdivision
  regarding work performed on behalf of the state agency or political
  subdivision.
         SECTION 2.  (a) Chapter 552, Government Code, applies to a
  request for public information sent to or received by a
  governmental body, as defined by Section 552.003(1)(A)(xvi),
  Government Code, as added by this Act, on or after February 1, 2021.
         (b)  For the purpose of computing a deadline under Chapter
  552, Government Code, or a rule adopted under that chapter, a
  request for public information described by Subsection (a) of this
  section that was sent or received on or after February 1, 2021, and
  before the effective date of this Act is considered to be sent and
  received on the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
  legislative session.