Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3271 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R2241 CAS-D
2	2	By: Howard of Travis H.B. No. 3271
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the Texas Partnership for Children in Nature.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Subtitle D, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
10	10	by adding Chapter 450 to read as follows:
11	11	CHAPTER 450. TEXAS PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN IN NATURE
12	12	SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
13	13	Sec. 450.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "partnership"
14	14	means the Texas Partnership for Children in Nature.
15	15	Sec. 450.002. SUNSET PROVISION. The Texas Partnership for
16	16	Children in Nature is subject to Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset Act).
17	17	Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the
18	18	partnership is abolished and this chapter expires September 1,
19	19	2021.
20	20	Sec. 450.003. COMPOSITION OF PARTNERSHIP. The partnership
21	21	is composed of seven members as follows:
22	22	(1) three public members as follows, appointed by the
23	23	governor in consultation with the executive director of the Parks
24	24	and Wildlife Department and the commissioner of education:
25	25	(A) one public member who represents
26	26	parent-teacher organizations; and
27	27	(B) two public members each of whom represents a
28	28	nonprofit organization dedicated to education concerning or
29	29	protection of the environment; and
30	30	(2) four ex officio members as follows:
31	31	(A) the executive director of the Parks and
32	32	Wildlife Department;
33	33	(B) the commissioner of education;
34	34	(C) the commissioner of state health services;
35	35	and
36	36	(D) the commissioner of agriculture.
37	37	Sec. 450.004. PUBLIC MEMBERS: ELIGIBILITY; APPOINTMENT;
38	38	VACANCY. (a) A person appointed as a public member of the
39	39	partnership must be a resident of this state.
40	40	(b) Appointments of public members to the partnership shall
41	41	be made:
42	42	(1) without regard to the race, color, disability,
43	43	sex, religion, age, or national origin of an appointee; and
44	44	(2) so that various geographic areas of this state are
45	45	represented in the partnership.
46	46	(c) The governor, in consultation with the executive
47	47	director of the Parks and Wildlife Department and the commissioner
48	48	of education, shall fill any vacancy in an appointed position in the
49	49	partnership for the unexpired portion of the term.
50	50	Sec. 450.005. EX OFFICIO MEMBERS: ELIGIBILITY; DESIGNATION
51	51	OF REPRESENTATIVE. (a) An ex officio member of the partnership
52	52	vacates the person's position in the partnership if the person
53	53	ceases to hold the position that qualifies the person for service in
54	54	the partnership.
55	55	(b) An ex officio member may designate a representative to
56	56	serve in the partnership in the member's place. A representative
57	57	designated under this subsection must be an officer or employee of
58	58	the state agency that employs the ex officio member or of which the
59	59	ex officio member is an officer.
60	60	Sec. 450.006. REMOVAL OF PUBLIC MEMBER. (a) It is a ground
61	61	for removal of a public member from the partnership if the member:
62	62	(1) is ineligible for public membership under Section
63	63	450.004(a);
64	64	(2) cannot because of illness or disability discharge
65	65	the member's duties for a substantial part of the term for which the
66	66	member is appointed; or
67	67	(3) is absent from more than two consecutive
68	68	partnership meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a
69	69	calendar year unless the absence is excused by majority vote of the
70	70	members of the partnership.
71	71	(b) The validity of an action of the partnership is not
72	72	affected by the fact that the action is taken when a ground for
73	73	removal of a partnership member exists.
74	74	(c) If a member of the partnership has knowledge that a
75	75	potential ground for removal exists, the member shall notify the
76	76	presiding officer of the partnership of the potential ground. The
77	77	presiding officer shall then notify the governor and the attorney
78	78	general that a potential ground for removal exists.
79	79	Sec. 450.007. TERM OF PUBLIC MEMBER. (a) A public member
80	80	of the partnership serves a term of two years.
81	81	(b) A public member is eligible for reappointment to another
82	82	term or part of a term.
83	83	(c) A public member may not serve more than two consecutive
84	84	terms. For purposes of this prohibition, a member is considered to
85	85	have served a term only if the member has served more than half of
86	86	the term.
87	87	Sec. 450.008. OFFICERS; WORKING GROUPS. (a) The executive
88	88	director of the Parks and Wildlife Department or the executive
89	89	director's representative serves as the presiding officer of the
90	90	partnership.
91	91	(b) The presiding officer of the partnership may appoint one
92	92	or more working groups for any purpose consistent with the duties of
93	93	the partnership under this chapter.
94	94	Sec. 450.009. COMPENSATION; EXPENSES. (a) A public member
95	95	of the partnership is not entitled to compensation but is entitled
96	96	to reimbursement for the travel expenses incurred by the member
97	97	while transacting partnership business, as provided by the General
98	98	Appropriations Act.
99	99	(b) An ex officio member's service in the partnership is an
100	100	additional duty of the underlying position that qualifies the
101	101	member for service in the partnership. The entitlement of an ex
102	102	officio member to compensation or to reimbursement for travel
103	103	expenses incurred while transacting partnership business is
104	104	governed by the law that applies to the member's service in that
105	105	underlying position, and any payment to the member for either
106	106	purpose must be made from money that may be used for the purpose and
107	107	is available to the state agency that the member serves in that
108	108	underlying position.
109	109	Sec. 450.010. MEETINGS; VOTING; PUBLIC ACCESS. (a) The
110	110	partnership shall meet at the call of the presiding officer.
111	111	(b) An ex officio member of the partnership may vote on
112	112	partnership business.
113	113	(c) The partnership shall develop and implement policies
114	114	that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to appear
115	115	before the partnership and speak on any issue under the
116	116	jurisdiction of the partnership.
117	117	Sec. 450.011. STAFF COORDINATION. The Parks and Wildlife
118	118	Department shall provide staff support to the partnership, in
119	119	coordination with the Texas Education Agency, the Department of
120	120	State Health Services, and the Texas Department of Agriculture.
121	121	[Sections 450.012-450.050 reserved for expansion]
122	122	SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES; FUNDING
123	123	Sec. 450.051. ADVISORY STATUS OF PARTNERSHIP. (a) In
124	124	implementing its powers and duties under this chapter, the
125	125	partnership functions only in an advisory capacity. Membership in
126	126	the partnership does not constitute a public office.
127	127	(b) Chapter 2110 does not apply to the partnership.
128	128	Sec. 450.052. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF PARTNERSHIP.
129	129	(a) The partnership shall promote the well-being of this state's
130	130	children by providing children with opportunities to spend more
131	131	time outdoors and to learn about the environment through
132	132	experiential activities outdoors and formal and informal education
133	133	concerning the environment. To accomplish those purposes, the
134	134	partnership shall:
135	135	(1) develop and assist in the implementation of a plan
136	136	to provide children with structured and unstructured opportunities
137	137	for outdoor recreation, scientific study, and learning that
138	138	includes:
139	139	(A) development and implementation of strategies
140	140	to provide increased support for programs under which school
141	141	grounds are converted into natural habitats for play and outdoor
142	142	classrooms;
143	143	(B) establishment of trail systems that connect
144	144	communities, parks, and schools to encourage walking, biking, and
145	145	increased time outdoors by children and their families;
146	146	(C) establishment of nature play areas in
147	147	communities to offer outdoor experiences close to children's homes;
148	148	(D) establishment, in partnership with the
149	149	Department of Family and Protective Services, the advisory council
150	150	on juvenile services, and appropriate community nonprofit
151	151	organizations, of a statewide civic justice corps to provide
152	152	students at risk of dropping out of school with opportunities to
153	153	serve on conservation crews in state parks and on other public land;
154	154	(E) establishment, in cooperation with school
155	155	districts, local parks departments, and appropriate nonprofit
156	156	organizations, of an outdoor classroom program on public land that
157	157	provides service learning opportunities and voluntary programming
158	158	aligned with the required curriculum under Section 28.002,
159	159	Education Code;
160	160	(F) provision to children and their families of
161	161	increased access to naturalists who present interpretive
162	162	activities at state parks and on other public land to enhance
163	163	discovery and enjoyment of this state's natural resources; and
164	164	(G) provision to children who are members of
165	165	minority groups of increased access to state parks and other public
166	166	land, through partnership with appropriate organizations;
167	167	(2) develop and assist in the implementation of a
168	168	state environmental literacy plan that includes:
169	169	(A) a review of current environmental education
170	170	in public schools, including student environmental literacy
171	171	levels;
172	172	(B) identification of curriculum necessary to
173	173	develop environmentally literate students;
174	174	(C) identification of model outdoor field and
175	175	service learning experiences that can be integrated into the
176	176	required curriculum under Section 28.002, Education Code;
177	177	(D) professional development opportunities for
178	178	professional educators and for students who are in educator
179	179	preparation programs and development programs for other
180	180	environmental educators; and
181	181	(E) methods to annually measure and report, at
182	182	the state and local levels, progress of public school students
183	183	toward becoming environmentally literate;
184	184	(3) devise a method to measure:
185	185	(A) baseline data concerning the amount of time
186	186	children spend outdoors; and
187	187	(B) any increased time children spend outdoors as
188	188	a result of the partnership's efforts; and
189	189	(4) identify opportunities for and barriers to
190	190	implementing environmental literacy programs in public schools and
191	191	on public land.
192	192	(b) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year,
193	193	the partnership shall submit a report to the governor, the
194	194	lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
195	195	and the presiding officer of each legislative standing committee
196	196	with primary jurisdiction over primary and secondary education,
197	197	natural resources, land and resource management, or environmental
198	198	regulation regarding the partnership's recommendations concerning
199	199	the partnership's duties under Subsection (a).
200	200	(c) The partnership shall adopt rules as necessary for its
201	201	own procedures.
202	202	Sec. 450.053. FUNDING. The partnership may accept gifts
203	203	and grants from a public or private source for the partnership to
204	204	use in performing the partnership's powers and duties under this
205	205	chapter.
206	206	SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
207	207	of this Act, appointments of public members shall be made to the
208	208	Texas Partnership for Children in Nature as provided by Chapter
209	209	450, Government Code, as added by this Act. Notwithstanding
210	210	Section 450.007, Government Code, as added by this Act, the terms of
211	211	initial public members appointed to the Texas Partnership for
212	212	Children in Nature expire February 1, 2011.
213	213	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.