82R10565 MCK-F
By: Callegari H.B. No. 3784
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the ethics and financial disclosure requirements and
audits of certain governmental bodies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 321.013(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The State Auditor shall conduct audits of all
departments, including institutions of higher education, as
specified in the audit plan. At the direction of the committee, the
State Auditor shall conduct an audit or investigation of:
(1) any entity receiving funds from the state; or
(2) a local governmental body as defined by Section
572.002.
SECTION 2. Section 403.011(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The comptroller shall:
(1) obtain a seal with "Comptroller's Office, State of
Texas" engraved around the margin and a five-pointed star in the
center, to be used as the seal of the office to authenticate
official acts, except warrants drawn on the state treasury;
(2) adopt regulations the comptroller considers
essential to the speedy and proper assessment and collection of
state revenues;
(3) supervise, as the sole accounting officer of the
state, the state's fiscal concerns and manage those concerns as
required by law;
(4) require all accounts presented to the comptroller
for settlement not otherwise provided for by law to be made on forms
that the comptroller prescribes;
(5) prescribe and furnish the form or electronic
format to be used in the collection of public revenue;
(6) prescribe the mode and manner of keeping and
stating of accounts of persons collecting state revenue;
(7) prescribe forms or electronic formats of the same
class, kind, and purpose so that they are uniform in size,
arrangement, matter, and form;
(8) require each person receiving money or managing or
having disposition of state property of which an account is kept in
the comptroller's office periodically to render statements of the
money or property to the comptroller;
(9) require each person who has received and not
accounted for state money to settle the person's account;
(10) keep and settle all accounts in which the state is
interested;
(11) examine and settle the account of each person
indebted to the state, verify the amount or balance, and direct and
supervise the collection of the money;
(12) audit claims against the state the payment of
which is provided for by law, unless the audit is otherwise
specially provided for;
(13) determine the method for auditing claims against
the state in a cost-effective manner, including the use of
stratified and statistical sampling techniques in conjunction with
automated edits;
(14) maintain the necessary records and data for each
approved claim against the state so that an adequate audit can be
performed and the comptroller can submit a report to each house of
the legislature, upon request, stating the name and amount of each
approved claim;
(15) keep and state each account between the state and
the United States;
(16) keep journals through which all entries are made
in the ledger;
(17) draw warrants on the treasury for payment of all
money required by law to be paid from the treasury on warrants drawn
by the comptroller;
(18) suggest plans for the improvement and management
of the general revenue; [and]
(19) preserve the books, records, papers, and other
property of the comptroller's office and deliver them in good
condition to the successor to that office; and
(20) require each local governmental body as defined
by Section 572.002 to file an accounting of the local governmental
body's money.
SECTION 3. Section 572.002, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (5-a) to read as follows:
(5-a) "Local governmental body" means:
(A) a county commissioners court;
(B) a municipal governing body;
(C) a deliberative body that has rulemaking or
quasi-judicial power and that is classified as a department,
agency, or political subdivision of a county or municipality;
(D) a school district board of trustees;
(E) a county board of school trustees;
(F) a county board of education;
(G) the governing body of a special district;
(H) the governing body of a nonprofit corporation
organized under Chapter 67, Water Code, that provides a water
supply or wastewater service, or both, and is exempt from ad valorem
taxation under Section 11.30, Tax Code;
(I) a local workforce development board created
under Section 2308.253;
(J) a nonprofit corporation that is eligible to
receive funds under the federal community services block grant
program and that is authorized by this state to serve a geographic
area of the state;
(K) any other governing body of any other local
government; and
(L) the part, section, or portion of an
organization, corporation, commission, committee, institution, or
agency that spends or that is supported wholly or partly by public
funds.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 572, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 572.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 572.009. APPLICABILITY TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL BODIES.
(a) A provision of this chapter that applies to a state agency
applies to a local governmental body.
(b) A provision of this chapter that applies to an appointed
officer of a major state agency applies to a member of the governing
body of a local governmental body.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.