HBA-ALS H.B. 1450 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1450 By: Uher State Affairs 3/4/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, a commissioners court is authorized to spend county funds for the membership fees and dues of a nonprofit state association of counties. By accepting these public funds, an association of counties is considered a governmental body for purposes of the Open Records Act. The Open Meetings Act does not define "governmental body" in the same way as the Open Records Act thus creating uncertainty as to whether a state association of counties is subject to the provisions of the Open Meetings Act. H.B. 1450 establishes that specified associations are considered governmental bodies for purposes of both the open meetings law and the public information law. The bill also requires an association to post notice and provide special notice of its meetings in a specified place and manner. 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 81.026, Local Government Code, by adding Subsection (c), to provide that an association under Subsection (a) of this section (State Association of Counties) and its governing body are considered to be governmental bodies for purposes of the open meetings law and the public information law under Chapters 551 (Open Meetings) and 552 (Open Records), Government Code. Requires the association to post notice and provide special notice of its meetings at the same place and in the same manner required for a board in the executive branch of state government. SECTION 2.Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.