By: Krause H.B. No. 204
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to zero-based budgeting for certain entities funded by
this state and requiring a state agency that is undergoing review by
the Sunset Advisory Commission to undergo a financial audit and
submit a zero-based budget in connection with the review.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 322.007, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 322.007. ESTIMATES AND REPORTS; SCHEDULED ZERO-BASED
BUDGET PLANNING. (a) Each institution, department, agency,
officer, employee, or agent of the state shall submit to the board
any estimate or report relating to appropriations requested by the
board or under the board's direction.
(b) The board shall adopt a schedule for the submission of
zero-based budget plans by institutions, departments, and agencies
of this state so that:
(1) one-third of the entities, or as near as possible
to one-third of the entities, is scheduled to submit a zero-based
budget plan before each regular legislative session; and
(2) each entity is scheduled to submit a zero-based
budget plan before every third regular legislative session.
(c) Each institution, department, and agency of this state
that receives an appropriation shall submit to the board a
zero-based budget plan in accordance with the schedule adopted
under Subsection (b). A zero-based budget plan must contain:
(1) a description of the discrete activities the
entity is charged with conducting or performing together with a
justification for each activity by reference to a statute or other
legal authority;
(2) for each activity identified under Subdivision
(1), a quantitative estimate of any adverse effects that reasonably
may be expected to result if the activity were discontinued,
together with a description of the methods by which the adverse
effects were estimated;
(3) for each activity identified under Subdivision
(1), an itemized account of expenditures required to maintain the
activity at the minimum level of service required by the statute or
other legal authority, together with a concise statement of the
quantity and quality of service required at that minimum level;
(4) for each activity identified under Subdivision
(1), an itemized account of expenditures required to maintain the
activity at the current level of service, together with a concise
statement of the quantity and quality of service provided at that
level; and
(5) a ranking of activities identified under
Subdivision (1) that illustrates the relative importance of each
activity to the overall goals and purposes of the institution,
department, or agency at current service levels.
(d) Each zero-based budget plan and each estimate or report
shall be submitted at a time set by the board and in the manner and
form prescribed by board rules.
(e) Each zero-based budget plan and each [(c) An] estimate
or report required under this section is in addition to a budget
plan or an estimate or report required by other law, including those
estimates or reports relating to appropriations required by Chapter
401.
SECTION 2. Section 322.008(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Based on information provided under Section 322.007,
the [The] director, under the direction of the board, shall prepare
the general appropriations bill for introduction at each regular
legislative session.
SECTION 3. Section 401.0445(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The governor shall compile the biennial appropriation
budget using information:
(1) submitted to the governor in the uniform budget
estimate forms; [and]
(2) obtained at public hearings, from inspections, and
from other sources; and
(3) submitted to the Legislative Budget Board under
Section 322.007.
SECTION 4. Section 325.007, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 325.007. AGENCY REPORT TO COMMISSION. (a) Before
September 1 of the odd-numbered year before the year in which a
state agency subject to this chapter is abolished, the agency shall
report to the commission:
(1) information regarding the application to the
agency of the criteria in Section 325.011; and
(2) any other information that the agency considers
appropriate or that is requested by the commission.
(b) Before November 1 of the odd-numbered year before the
year in which a state agency subject to this chapter is abolished,
the agency shall present to the commission a zero-based budget for
the state fiscal year that begins on the date the agency is
scheduled to be abolished that:
(1) describes the discrete activities the entity is
charged with conducting or performing together with a justification
for each activity by reference to a statute or other legal
authority;
(2) for each activity identified under Subdivision
(1), a quantitative estimate of any adverse effects that reasonably
may be expected to result if the activity were discontinued,
together with a description of the methods by which the adverse
effects were estimated;
(3) for each activity identified under Subdivision
(1), an itemized account of expenditures required to maintain the
activity at the minimum level of service required by the statute or
other legal authority, together with a concise statement of the
quantity and quality of service required at that minimum level;
(4) for each activity identified under Subdivision
(1), an itemized account of expenditures required to maintain the
activity at the current level of service, together with a concise
statement of the quantity and quality of service provided at that
level; and
(5) a ranking of activities identified under
Subdivision (1) that illustrates the relative importance of each
activity to the overall goals and purposes of the institution,
department, or agency at current service levels.
(c) [(b)] The reports under Subsections (a) and (b) must be
submitted in electronic format only. The commission shall
prescribe the electronic format to be used.
SECTION 5. Chapter 325, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 325.0075 to read as follows:
Sec. 325.0075. FINANCIAL AUDIT. The state auditor shall
conduct a financial audit under Section 321.0131 of each state
agency scheduled to be abolished on a date certain if not continued
in accordance with this chapter. The state auditor shall conduct
the audit at a time so that the completed audit may be sent to the
commission on September 1 of the odd-numbered year before the year
the agency is scheduled to be abolished.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by Sections 1, 2 and, 3
apply only in regard to information for developing a biennial
appropriation budget for a state fiscal biennium beginning on or
after the effective date of this Act. The changes in law made by
Sections 4 and 5 apply only in relation to the review by the Sunset
Advisory Commission of agencies scheduled to be abolished on or
after September 1, 2017, if not continued in accordance with
Chapter 325, Government Code, and in relation to any other agencies
that by law are reviewed during those review periods by the Sunset
Advisory Commission.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.