Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SR1 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Whitmire S.R. No. 1
2	2
3	3
4	4	SENATE RESOLUTION
5	5	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
6	6	SECTION 1. CAUCUS REPORT. At a caucus held in the
7	7	offices of the senate attended by 30 members of the senate, the
8	8	caucus made the recommendations for the operation of the senate
9	9	contained in this resolution.
10	10	SECTION 2. SENATE OFFICERS. (a) Senate officers for the
11	11	81st Legislature are:
12	12	(1) Secretary of the Senate--Patsy Spaw;
13	13	(2) Calendar Clerk--Linda Tubbs;
14	14	(3) Doorkeeper--Austin Osborn;
15	15	(4) Enrolling Clerk--Mardi Alexander;
16	16	(5) Journal Clerk--Dianne Arrington; and
17	17	(6) Sergeant-at-arms--Rick DeLeon.
18	18	(b) Officers named in this section serve at the will of
19	19	the senate.
20	20	SECTION 3. PARLIAMENTARIAN. The parliamentarian, Karina
21	21	Davis, is named by the lieutenant governor and serves at the will
22	22	of the lieutenant governor. The parliamentarian is a senate
23	23	officer.
24	24	SECTION 4. EMPLOYEES. (a) The lieutenant governor may
25	25	employ staff for the office of the lieutenant governor at
26	26	salaries set by the lieutenant governor.
27	27	(b) Each senator may employ staff for the senator's
28	28	office at salaries set by the senator.
29	29	(c) The chairman of each committee may employ staff of
30	30	the chair's selection as needed by the committee. A committee
31	31	employee shall be compensated in amounts similar to the
32	32	compensation paid to persons in similar senate positions.
33	33	(d) The secretary of the senate may employ other staff
34	34	necessary for the operation of the senate at salaries approved by
35	35	the administration committee.
36	36	(e) The lieutenant governor, the secretary of the senate,
37	37	and each senator may use the assistance of any assistant
38	38	sergeant-at-arms or other available senate employee for any and
39	39	all services needed in and about the senate.
40	40	(f) In this resolution, "senate employee" includes an
41	41	employee of the lieutenant governor, the secretary of the senate,
42	42	a senator, a senate committee, and any other person compensated
43	43	from funds appropriated for the operation of the senate.
44	44	SECTION 5. DUTIES OF ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE. (a) In
45	45	addition to the duties of the administration committee expressly
46	46	imposed by this resolution, the committee shall take actions
47	47	necessary to ensure that the administrative operations of the
48	48	senate comply with applicable law and are conducted effectively
49	49	and efficiently.
50	50	(b) The committee shall establish appropriate and
51	51	necessary controls over contracts, inventory, and property
52	52	management.
53	53	(c) The committee may delegate any of its
54	54	responsibilities to the committee chair or to the secretary of
55	55	the senate to be performed under the general supervision of the
56	56	committee.
57	57	(d) Policies adopted by the administration committee
58	58	must be consistent with the provisions of this resolution. To
59	59	the extent of a conflict between a policy and this resolution,
60	60	this resolution prevails.
61	61	(e) Policies adopted by the administration committee are
62	62	subject to the will of the senate, and a majority of the senate
63	63	may reject or modify any policy adopted by the committee.
64	64	SECTION 6. EMPLOYMENT AND PERSONNEL POLICIES. (a) The
65	65	administration committee may adopt and enforce personnel and
66	66	employment policies governing senate employees.
67	67	(b) The administration committee may not adopt a policy
68	68	that limits the salary of an employee of the lieutenant governor,
69	69	a senator, or a senate committee, except that the administration
70	70	committee may require approval by that committee of any senate
71	71	committee employee salary that is proposed to exceed $5,000 a
72	72	month.
73	73	SECTION 7. MEMBER'S EMPLOYEE LEAVE POLICY. (a) An
74	74	employee of a senator accrues vacation leave, compensatory
75	75	leave, or sick leave in accordance with policies adopted by the
76	76	senator consistent with the requirements of this section.
77	77	(b) An employee may accrue vacation leave, compensatory
78	78	leave, or sick leave only if the employee files a monthly time
79	79	record with the senate human resources office. Time records are
80	80	due not later than the 10th day of the following month.
81	81	(c) Compensatory time must be used not later than the
82	82	last day of the 12th month following the month in which the time
83	83	was accrued.
84	84	(d) An employee is not entitled to compensation for
85	85	accrued but unused compensatory time.
86	86	SECTION 8. OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT. An employee of the senate
87	87	may not be employed by and receive compensation from any other
88	88	person during the term of senate employment without the
89	89	permission of the employee's senate employer.
90	90	SECTION 9. WORK HOURS. An employee shall report to work
91	91	at the time, and work for the number of hours, set by the
92	92	employee's senate employer.
93	93	SECTION 10. LIMIT ON MONTHLY STAFF SALARY AND TRAVEL
94	94	EXPENSES. (a) The total amount of staff salaries and intrastate
95	95	staff travel expenses for each senator may not exceed $37,500 per
96	96	month.
97	97	(b) This monthly amount accrues on the first day of the
98	98	month and may not be expended prior to the month in which it
99	99	accrues, but any unexpended portion for a month may be carried
100	100	forward from one month to the next and expended until the end of
101	101	the fiscal year.
102	102	SECTION 11. SENATORS' EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT AND PER
103	103	DIEM. The secretary of the senate shall provide for the
104	104	reimbursement of the expenses of each senator and the payment of
105	105	each senator's per diem in accordance with law, this resolution,
106	106	and the rules of the Texas Ethics Commission.
107	107	SECTION 12. OTHER SENATE EXPENSES. (a) The lieutenant
108	108	governor, the secretary of the senate, and each senator may incur
109	109	expenses for carrying out official duties, including expenses
110	110	for items such as subscriptions, stationery, postage, and
111	111	telecommunications.
112	112	(b) Expenses under this section shall be paid from the
113	113	contingent expense fund of the senate.
114	114	SECTION 13. PAYMENT OF SALARIES AND EXPENSES.
115	115	(a) Salaries and expenses authorized by this resolution shall
116	116	be paid from the contingent expense fund as provided by this
117	117	section.
118	118	(b) Vouchers for payment of any expense, including
119	119	salaries and travel expenses, must be signed by the chair of the
120	120	administration committee and the secretary of the senate.
121	121	(c) The administration committee shall adopt policies
122	122	regarding the presentation of timely, properly completed, and
123	123	signed vouchers.
124	124	SECTION 14. DESIGNATION FOR ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS AND
125	125	FUNCTIONS. (a) The administration committee shall designate a
126	126	senator or any employee to attend an official meeting of a
127	127	national governmental organization during a session of the 81st
128	128	Legislature. The person designated is entitled to reimbursement
129	129	for actual and necessary expenses.
130	130	(b) The lieutenant governor may designate a senator to
131	131	represent the senate at ceremonies and ceremonial functions. The
132	132	necessary expenses of the senator and necessary staff for this
133	133	purpose shall be paid pursuant to a budget adopted by the
134	134	administration committee.
135	135	SECTION 15. ELECTRONIC RECORDING BY MEMBER PROHIBITED.
136	136	No member of the senate may electronically record a private
137	137	conversation held within the brass rail on the senate floor
138	138	during a legislative session without the knowledge and consent of
139	139	all participants to the conversation.
140	140	SECTION 16. JOURNAL. The secretary of the senate shall
141	141	provide for the printing of not more than 500 copies of the daily
142	142	journal. Of that number:
143	143	(1) 175 shall be furnished to the house of
144	144	representatives;
145	145	(2) 60 shall be furnished to the Legislative
146	146	Reference Library; and
147	147	(3) the remainder shall be apportioned among the
148	148	senators and the lieutenant governor.
149	149	________________________________
150	150	President of the Senate
151	151	I hereby certify that the
152	152	above Resolution was adopted by
153	153	the Senate on January 13, 2009.
154	154	________________________________
155	155	Secretary of the Senate