HBA-DMD S.B. 191 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 191
By: Ogden
State Affairs
4/7/1999
Engrossed



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current Texas law prohibits granting extra compensation to a state employee
after service has been rendered.  Additionally, the state's doctrine of
at-will employment and restrictions on contracting for amounts of money
beyond the biennium essentially prohibit state agencies from entering into
employment contracts that include severance provisions. In the few cases in
which severance payments have occurred, questions of their appropriateness
and legality have arisen.  

S.B. 191 prohibits the executive head of a state agency (executive head)
from being reassigned to another position in the agency or to another
agency unless the agency's governing body  votes to approve the proposed
reassignment. This bill prohibits a state agency from entering into a
contract with certain persons unless its governing body votes to approve
the contract and notifies the Legislative Budget Board of the terms of the
proposed contract. It also opens the terms of the reassignment of an
executive head to public disclosure. S.B. 191 prohibits a record, terms, or
an agreement pertaining to the reassignment of an executive head from being
withheld from public disclosure. This bill establishes a penalty for
attempting to withhold a record from public disclosure. 

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 Subtitle A, Title 6, Government Code, by adding Chapter
618, as follows: 

CHAPTER 618.  RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN ACTIONS INVOLVING
EXECUTIVE HEAD OF STATE AGENCY

Sec. 618.001. DEFINITIONS.  Defines "executive head of a state agency" and
"state agency" in this chapter. 

Sec. 618.002. REASSIGNMENT OF EXECUTIVE HEAD OF STATE AGENCY. Prohibits the
executive head of a state agency (executive head) from being reassigned to
another position in the agency or at another agency controlled by the same
governing body unless the governing body, in an open meeting, votes to
approve the proposed reassignment. 

Sec. 618.003. CONTRACTING WITH EXECUTIVE HEAD OF STATE AGENCY. Prohibits a
state agency from entering into a contract with the executive head, with a
person who at any time during the four years before the date of the
contract was the executive head, or with a person who employs a current or
former executive head, unless the governing body votes, in an open meeting,
to approve the contract, and notifies the Legislative Budget Board, no
later than the fifth day before the vote, of the terms of the proposed
contract. 

Sec. 618.004. ACTIONS INVOLVING EXECUTIVE HEAD ARE OPEN RECORDS. (a)
Subjects the terms of the reassignment of an executive head and the terms
of a contract with a current or former executive head to disclosure under
Chapter 552 (Public Information), Government Code, and prohibits the terms
from being considered to be  excepted from required disclosure under that
chapter. 

(b) Prohibits a record pertaining to the reassignment of an executive head,
the terms of a consulting service contract with a current or former
executive head, or an agreement under which a state agency has paid or will
pay or extend any monetary or other consideration to an executive head in
connection with the settlement, compromise, or other resolution of any
difference between the state agency or the governing body and a current or
former executive head from being withheld from public disclosure. Set forth
that a person that attempts to withhold from public disclosure a record
under this subsection commits a Class A misdemeanor offense. 

SECTION 2.Effective date: September 1, 1999, and applies to a contract,
reassignment, settlement, compromise, or other resolution that takes place
or is entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. 

SECTION 3.Emergency clause.