HBA-DMD C.S.H.B. 1085 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1085 By: Hunter State, Federal, & International Relations 3/22/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Records Management Interagency Coordinating Council was required by the 75th Legislature to study the challenges introduced by digital formats to the management of state records and to public access to state government information. The council's recommendations included that the Department of Information Resources and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (commission) should establish administrative procedures and training to ensure that their records management, archives, and information systems staff work together and that there should be basic statutory requirements for Records Management Officers (RMO) to have a better working relationship with Information Resource Managers (IRM). Currently, there is a discrepancy between the educational requirements and authority granted to IRMs and RMOs. The IRM is a senior official of a state agency who reports to the director or deputy director and has budget authority, whereas RMO has no similar statutory definition. C.S.H.B. 1085 requires the commission to provide training programs and continuing education for officers and records management and information staff. Additionally, this bill allows for a state employee to be appointed as the agency's officer only if the employee reports directly to the agency head or to a person with a title functionally equivalent to deputy executive director. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 441.182(e), Government Code, to require the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (commission) to provide a mandatory or optional training and continuing education program, as determined by the commission, for records management officers to assist them in administering records management programs in each state agency as required under this subchapter. Requires the commission to provide training, with the cooperation of the Department of Information Resources, for records management and information technology staff to assist them in managing records in an electronic format. SECTION 2. Amends Section 441.184(a), Government Code, to establish that an employee of a state agency is eligible to be appointed as the agency's records management officer only if the employee holds a position in which the employee reports directly to the agency head or to a person with a title functionally equivalent to deputy executive director. SECTION 3.Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4.Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 5.Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1085 differs from the original bill in SECTION 2 (Section 441.184(a), Government Code) by providing that an employee of a state agency is eligible to be appointed as the agency's records management officer only if the employee holds a position in which the employee reports directly to the agency head or to a person with a title functionally equivalent to deputy executive director, rather than the chief deputy to the agency head.