By: Deuell S.B. No. 1003
(In the Senate - Filed February 20, 2009; March 4, 2009,
read first time and referred to Committee on Government
Organization; March 18, 2009, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 5, Nays 1; March 18, 2009, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the abolishment of the Office of State-Federal
Relations as an independent agency and the transfer of the duties
and functions of that agency to the office of the governor.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 751.001 through 751.004, Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 751.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Executive director" ["Board" means the Office of
State-Federal Relations Advisory Policy Board.
[(2) "Director"] means the executive director of the
Office of State-Federal Relations.
(2) [(3)] "Office" means the Office of State-Federal
Relations.
(3) [(4)] "State agency" means a state board,
commission, department, institution, or officer having statewide
jurisdiction, including a state college or university.
Sec. 751.002. OFFICE OF STATE-FEDERAL RELATIONS. (a) The
Office of State-Federal Relations is a program within the office of
the governor. The governor shall provide guidance to the office and
direct the activities of the office [an agency of the state and
operates within the executive department].
(b) The office shall consult with the lieutenant governor
and the speaker of the house of representatives regarding relations
between the state and federal governments and shall inform the
legislative leadership of the office's progress on, and the status
of, federal issues, including federal funding and policy decisions
[The office is subject to the administrative procedure law, Chapter
2001].
Sec. 751.003. SUNSET PROVISION. The Office of
State-Federal Relations is subject to Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset
Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter,
the office is abolished and this chapter expires September 1, 2015
[2009. In the review of the office by the Sunset Advisory
Commission, as required by this section, the sunset commission
shall limit its review to the appropriateness of recommendations
made to the 80th Legislature. In its report to the 81st
Legislature, the sunset commission may include any recommendations
it considers appropriate].
Sec. 751.004. APPOINTMENT AND TERM OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.
(a) The governor[, with the advice and consent of the senate,]
shall appoint the executive [a] director of the office. The
executive director is accountable to the governor.
(b) The executive director serves at the pleasure of the
governor.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 751.005, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 751.005. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF OFFICE
[DIRECTOR].
SECTION 3. Section 751.005, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding Subsection (e) to
read as follows:
(a) The office [director] shall exercise the powers and
carry out the duties prescribed by this section in order to act as a
liaison from the state to the federal government.
(b) The office [director] shall:
(1) help coordinate state and federal programs dealing
with the same subject;
(2) inform the governor and the legislature of federal
programs that may be carried out in the state or that affect state
programs;
(3) provide federal agencies and the United States
Congress with information about state policy and state conditions
on matters that concern the federal government;
(4) provide the legislature with information useful in
measuring the effect of federal actions on the state and local
programs;
(5) prepare and supply to the governor and all members
of the legislature an annual report that:
(A) describes the office's operations;
(B) contains the office's priorities and
strategies for the following year;
(C) details projects and legislation pursued by
the office;
(D) discusses issues in the following
congressional session of interest to this state; and
(E) contains an analysis of federal funds
availability and formulae; [and]
(6) prepare annually a complete and detailed written
report accounting for all funds received and disbursed by the
office during the preceding fiscal year;
(7) notify the governor, the lieutenant governor, and
the speaker of the house of representatives of federal activities
relevant to the state and inform the Texas congressional delegation
of state activities;
(8) conduct frequent conference calls with the
lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives
or their designees regarding state-federal relations and programs;
(9) respond to requests for information from the
legislature, the United States Congress, and federal agencies; and
(10) coordinate with the Legislative Budget Board
regarding the effects of federal funding on the state budget.
(c) The office [director] may maintain office space at
locations inside and outside the state as chosen by the office
[director].
(e) The priorities of the office, as stated in the report
required under Subsection (b)(5), must be approved by the governor
in consultation with the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the
house of representatives. The report must include an evaluation of
the performance of the office based on performance measures that
are developed by the governor in consultation with the lieutenant
governor and the speaker of the house of representatives.
SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (g), Section 751.006,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The executive director may employ staff necessary to
carry out the [director's] powers and duties of the office under
this chapter. The executive director or the executive director's
designee shall provide to office employees, as often as necessary,
information regarding their qualification for employment under
this chapter and their responsibilities under applicable laws
relating to standards of conduct for state employees.
(g) The executive director and the staff of the office
working in Washington, D.C., may receive a [the same]
cost-of-living salary adjustment [as is established for an employee
of another state agency under Section 751.012(d)].
SECTION 5. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 751.012,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The office may enter into interagency contracts with
[other] state agencies to locate staff of the [other] state
agencies [agency] in Washington, D.C., to work under the
supervision of the executive director and shall coordinate
activities conducted on behalf of the state agencies [other agency]
with those of the office.
(c) A contract under this section must include provisions
under which staff of the [other] state agency:
(1) report directly to the [that] agency's
administrative head or the presiding officer of the [that] agency's
governing body;
(2) have an officially recognized role in the [that]
agency's budget planning process; and
(3) provide periodic updates of activities at meetings
of the [that] agency's governing body.
SECTION 6. Subchapter A, Chapter 751, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 751.015 and 751.016 to read as follows:
Sec. 751.015. CONTRACTS BETWEEN OFFICE AND CONSULTANTS.
(a) If the office elects to contract with federal-level government
relations consultants, the office shall adopt written procedures
for those contracts. The procedures must include:
(1) guidelines regarding contract management;
(2) a competitive procurement process and method to
assess the effectiveness of a prospective consultant;
(3) a technique for assigning a value to a prospective
consultant's ability to provide services at a reasonable price and
level of experience;
(4) a process for determining a prospective
consultant's ability to work with influential members of the United
States Congress and serve as an effective advocate on behalf of the
state; and
(5) a method to verify that the interests of a
prospective consultant or the consultant's other clients do not
create a conflict of interest that may jeopardize the state's
interest.
(b) A contract between the office and a federal-level
government relations consultant must include:
(1) an agreement regarding the goals of the service to
be provided by the consultant and targeted performance measures;
(2) a provision governing the manner in which the
contract may be terminated by the parties to the contract; and
(3) a provision allowing the office, the state
auditor's office as provided by Section 2262.003, and other
specified oversight entities to audit the contractor's performance
under the contract.
(c) The governor must sign any contract between the office
and a federal-level government relations consultant.
Sec. 751.016. CONTRACTS BY STATE AGENCIES OR POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS. (a) In this section, "political subdivision"
includes a river authority.
(b) An agency or political subdivision of the state shall
report to the office on any contract between the agency or
subdivision and a federal-level government relations consultant. A
state agency or political subdivision shall submit one report under
this section not later than the 30th day after the date the contract
is executed and a second report not later than the 30th day after
the date the contract is terminated. The report must include:
(1) the name of the consultant or consulting firm;
(2) the issue on which the consultant was hired to
consult; and
(3) the amount of compensation paid or to be paid to
the consultant under the contract.
(b-1) A state agency or political subdivision contracting
with a federal-level government relations consultant before
September 1, 2009, shall, if the contract has not terminated before
that date, submit a report as required by Subsection (b) not later
than September 30, 2009. This subsection expires September 1,
2010.
(c) If a state agency contracts with a federal-level
government relations consultant and the consultant subcontracts
the work to another firm or individual, the state agency shall
report the subcontract to the office.
SECTION 7. The following provisions of the Government Code
are repealed:
(1) Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f), Section
751.006;
(2) Sections 751.007, 751.008, 751.010, and 751.011;
(3) Subsections (b), (e), and (f), Section 751.012;
and
(4) Sections 751.013, 751.014, and 751.024.
SECTION 8. (a) The Office of State-Federal Relations is
abolished as an independent agency and created as a program in the
office of the governor. The Office of State-Federal Relations
Advisory Policy Board is abolished.
(b) The validity of an action taken by the Office of
State-Federal Relations before it is abolished under Subsection (a)
of this section is not affected by the abolishment.
SECTION 9. On September 1, 2009:
(1) the director of the Office of State-Federal
Relations becomes the executive director of the Office of
State-Federal Relations in the office of the governor;
(2) an employee of the Office of State-Federal
Relations becomes an employee of the Office of State-Federal
Relations in the office of the governor;
(3) a reference in law to the Office of State-Federal
Relations means the Office of State-Federal Relations in the office
of the governor;
(4) all money, contracts, leases, rights, and
obligations of the Office of State-Federal Relations are
transferred to the Office of State-Federal Relations in the office
of the governor;
(5) all property, including records, in the custody of
the Office of State-Federal Relations becomes the property of the
Office of State-Federal Relations in the office of the governor;
and
(6) all funds appropriated by the legislature to the
Office of State-Federal Relations are transferred to the Office of
State-Federal Relations in the office of the governor.
SECTION 10. A function or activity performed by the Office
of State-Federal Relations is transferred to the Office of
State-Federal Relations in the office of the governor as provided
by this Act.
SECTION 11. The Office of State-Federal Relations and the
office of the governor shall establish a transition plan for the
transfer described in Section 9 of this Act.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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