Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB205 Compare Versions

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1	1	81R32572 CAS-D
2	2	By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 205
3	3	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 205:
4	4	By: Howard of Travis C.S.S.B. No. 205
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the Texas Partnership for Children in Nature.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subtitle D, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
12	12	by adding Chapter 450 to read as follows:
13	13	CHAPTER 450. TEXAS PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN IN NATURE
14	14	SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
15	15	Sec. 450.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "partnership"
16	16	means the Texas Partnership for Children in Nature.
17	17	Sec. 450.002. SUNSET PROVISION. The Texas Partnership for
18	18	Children in Nature is subject to Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset Act).
19	19	Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the
20	20	partnership is abolished and this chapter expires September 1,
21	21	2021.
22	22	Sec. 450.003. COMPOSITION OF PARTNERSHIP. The partnership
23	23	is composed of seven members as follows:
24	24	(1) three public members as follows, appointed by the
25	25	governor in consultation with the executive director of the Parks
26	26	and Wildlife Department and the commissioner of education:
27	27	(A) one public member who represents
28	28	parent-teacher organizations; and
29	29	(B) two public members each of whom represents a
30	30	nonprofit organization dedicated to education concerning or
31	31	protection of the environment; and
32	32	(2) four ex officio members as follows:
33	33	(A) the executive director of the Parks and
34	34	Wildlife Department;
35	35	(B) the commissioner of education;
36	36	(C) the commissioner of state health services;
37	37	and
38	38	(D) the commissioner of agriculture.
39	39	Sec. 450.004. PUBLIC MEMBERS: ELIGIBILITY; APPOINTMENT;
40	40	VACANCY. (a) A person appointed as a public member of the
41	41	partnership must be a resident of this state.
42	42	(b) Appointments of public members to the partnership shall
43	43	be made:
44	44	(1) without regard to the race, color, disability,
45	45	sex, religion, age, or national origin of an appointee; and
46	46	(2) so that various geographic areas of this state are
47	47	represented in the partnership.
48	48	(c) The governor, in consultation with the executive
49	49	director of the Parks and Wildlife Department and the commissioner
50	50	of education, shall fill any vacancy in an appointed position in the
51	51	partnership for the unexpired portion of the term.
52	52	Sec. 450.005. EX OFFICIO MEMBERS: ELIGIBILITY; DESIGNATION
53	53	OF REPRESENTATIVE. (a) An ex officio member of the partnership
54	54	vacates the person's position in the partnership if the person
55	55	ceases to hold the position that qualifies the person for service in
56	56	the partnership.
57	57	(b) An ex officio member may designate a representative to
58	58	serve in the partnership in the member's place. A representative
59	59	designated under this subsection must be an officer or employee of
60	60	the state agency that employs the ex officio member or of which the
61	61	ex officio member is an officer.
62	62	Sec. 450.006. REMOVAL OF PUBLIC MEMBER. (a) It is a ground
63	63	for removal of a public member from the partnership if the member:
64	64	(1) is ineligible for public membership under Section
65	65	450.004(a);
66	66	(2) cannot because of illness or disability discharge
67	67	the member's duties for a substantial part of the term for which the
68	68	member is appointed; or
69	69	(3) is absent from more than two consecutive
70	70	partnership meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a
71	71	calendar year unless the absence is excused by majority vote of the
72	72	members of the partnership.
73	73	(b) The validity of an action of the partnership is not
74	74	affected by the fact that the action is taken when a ground for
75	75	removal of a partnership member exists.
76	76	(c) If a member of the partnership has knowledge that a
77	77	potential ground for removal exists, the member shall notify the
78	78	presiding officer of the partnership of the potential ground. The
79	79	presiding officer shall then notify the governor and the attorney
80	80	general that a potential ground for removal exists.
81	81	Sec. 450.007. TERM OF PUBLIC MEMBER. (a) A public member
82	82	of the partnership serves a term of four years.
83	83	(b) A public member is eligible for reappointment to another
84	84	term or part of a term.
85	85	(c) A public member may not serve more than two consecutive
86	86	terms. For purposes of this prohibition, a member is considered to
87	87	have served a term only if the member has served more than half of
88	88	the term.
89	89	Sec. 450.008. OFFICERS; WORKING GROUPS. (a) The executive
90	90	director of the Parks and Wildlife Department or the executive
91	91	director's representative serves as the presiding officer of the
92	92	partnership.
93	93	(b) The presiding officer of the partnership may appoint one
94	94	or more working groups for any purpose consistent with the duties of
95	95	the partnership under this chapter.
96	96	Sec. 450.009. COMPENSATION; EXPENSES. (a) A public member
97	97	of the partnership is not entitled to compensation but is entitled
98	98	to reimbursement for the travel expenses incurred by the member
99	99	while transacting partnership business, as provided by the General
100	100	Appropriations Act.
101	101	(b) An ex officio member's service in the partnership is an
102	102	additional duty of the underlying position that qualifies the
103	103	member for service in the partnership. The entitlement of an ex
104	104	officio member to compensation or to reimbursement for travel
105	105	expenses incurred while transacting partnership business is
106	106	governed by the law that applies to the member's service in that
107	107	underlying position, and any payment to the member for either
108	108	purpose must be made from money that may be used for the purpose and
109	109	is available to the state agency that the member serves in that
110	110	underlying position.
111	111	Sec. 450.010. MEETINGS; VOTING; PUBLIC ACCESS. (a) The
112	112	partnership shall meet at the call of the presiding officer.
113	113	(b) An ex officio member of the partnership may vote on
114	114	partnership business.
115	115	(c) The partnership shall develop and implement policies
116	116	that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to appear
117	117	before the partnership and speak on any issue under the
118	118	jurisdiction of the partnership.
119	119	Sec. 450.011. STAFF COORDINATION. (a) The Parks and
120	120	Wildlife Department shall provide staff support to the partnership,
121	121	in coordination with the Texas Education Agency, the Department of
122	122	State Health Services, and the Department of Agriculture.
123	123	(b) This section does not require the Parks and Wildlife
124	124	Department to reallocate staff or funding to the detriment of other
125	125	programs.
126	126	[Sections 450.012-450.050 reserved for expansion]
127	127	SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES; FUNDING
128	128	Sec. 450.051. ADVISORY STATUS OF PARTNERSHIP. (a) In
129	129	implementing its powers and duties under this chapter, the
130	130	partnership functions only in an advisory capacity. Membership in
131	131	the partnership does not constitute a public office.
132	132	(b) Chapter 2110 does not apply to the partnership.
133	133	Sec. 450.052. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF PARTNERSHIP.
134	134	(a) The partnership shall promote the well-being of this state's
135	135	children by providing children with opportunities to spend more
136	136	time outdoors and to learn about the environment through
137	137	experiential activities outdoors and formal and informal education
138	138	concerning the environment. To accomplish those purposes, the
139	139	partnership shall:
140	140	(1) develop and assist in the implementation of a plan
141	141	to provide children with structured and unstructured opportunities
142	142	for outdoor recreation, scientific study, and learning that
143	143	includes:
144	144	(A) development and implementation of strategies
145	145	to provide increased support for programs under which school
146	146	grounds are converted into natural habitats for play and outdoor
147	147	classrooms;
148	148	(B) establishment of trail systems that connect
149	149	communities, parks, and schools to encourage walking, biking, and
150	150	increased time outdoors by children and their families;
151	151	(C) establishment of nature play areas in
152	152	communities to offer outdoor experiences close to children's homes;
153	153	(D) establishment, in partnership with the
154	154	Department of Family and Protective Services, the advisory council
155	155	on juvenile services, and appropriate community nonprofit
156	156	organizations, of a statewide civic justice corps to provide
157	157	students at risk of dropping out of school with opportunities to
158	158	serve on conservation crews in state parks and on other public land;
159	159	(E) establishment, in cooperation with school
160	160	districts, local parks departments, and appropriate nonprofit
161	161	organizations, of an outdoor classroom program on public land that
162	162	provides service learning opportunities and voluntary programming
163	163	aligned with the required curriculum under Section 28.002,
164	164	Education Code;
165	165	(F) provision to children and their families of
166	166	increased access to naturalists who present interpretive
167	167	activities at state parks and on other public land to enhance
168	168	discovery and enjoyment of this state's natural resources; and
169	169	(G) provision to children who are members of
170	170	minority groups of increased access to state parks and other public
171	171	land, through partnership with appropriate organizations;
172	172	(2) develop and assist in the implementation of a
173	173	state environmental literacy plan that includes:
174	174	(A) a review of current environmental education
175	175	in public schools, including student environmental literacy
176	176	levels;
177	177	(B) identification of curriculum necessary to
178	178	develop environmentally literate students;
179	179	(C) identification of model outdoor field and
180	180	service learning experiences that can be integrated into the
181	181	required curriculum under Section 28.002, Education Code;
182	182	(D) professional development opportunities for
183	183	professional educators and for students who are in educator
184	184	preparation programs and development programs for other
185	185	environmental educators; and
186	186	(E) methods to annually measure and report, at
187	187	the state and local levels, progress of public school students
188	188	toward becoming environmentally literate;
189	189	(3) devise a method to measure:
190	190	(A) baseline data concerning the amount of time
191	191	children spend outdoors; and
192	192	(B) any increased time children spend outdoors as
193	193	a result of the partnership's efforts; and
194	194	(4) identify opportunities for and barriers to
195	195	implementing environmental literacy programs in public schools and
196	196	on public land.
197	197	(b) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year,
198	198	the partnership shall submit a report to the governor, the
199	199	lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
200	200	and the presiding officer of each legislative standing committee
201	201	with primary jurisdiction over primary and secondary education,
202	202	natural resources, land and resource management, or environmental
203	203	regulation regarding the partnership's recommendations concerning
204	204	the partnership's duties under Subsection (a).
205	205	(c) The partnership shall adopt rules as necessary for its
206	206	own procedures.
207	207	Sec. 450.053. FUNDING. The partnership may accept gifts
208	208	and grants from a public or private source for the partnership to
209	209	use in performing the partnership's powers and duties under this
210	210	chapter.
211	211	SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
212	212	of this Act, appointments of public members shall be made to the
213	213	Texas Partnership for Children in Nature as provided by Chapter
214	214	450, Government Code, as added by this Act. Notwithstanding
215	215	Section 450.007, Government Code, as added by this Act, the terms of
216	216	initial public members appointed to the Texas Partnership for
217	217	Children in Nature expire February 1, 2013.
218	218	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.