By: Uresti S.B. No. 772
(In the Senate - Filed February 22, 2013; February 26, 2013,
read first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture, Rural
Affairs, and Homeland Security; April 11, 2013, reported favorably
by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 11, 2013, sent to
printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the elimination of obsolete and redundant reporting
requirements for the Department of Agriculture.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (b), (c), and (d), Section 58.016,
Agriculture Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) On or before August 1 of each year, the administrator
shall file with the board the proposed annual budgets for the young
farmer loan guarantee program under Subchapter E, the farm and
ranch finance program under Chapter 59, and the programs
administered by the board under this chapter for the succeeding
fiscal year. If there is no administrator, the commissioner shall
assume the duties of the administrator in connection with
preparation of the budget. The budget must set forth the general
categories of expected expenditures out of revenues and income of
the funds administered by the authority and the amount on account of
each. On or before September 1 of each year, the board shall
consider the proposed annual budget and may approve it or amend it.
[Copies of the annual budget certified by the chairman of the board
shall be promptly filed with the governor and the legislature. The
annual budget is not effective until it is filed.] If for any
reason the authority does not adopt an annual budget before
September 2, no expenditures may be made from the funds until the
board approves the annual budget. The authority may adopt an
amended annual budget for the current fiscal year[, but the amended
annual budget may not supersede a prior budget until it is filed
with the governor and the legislature].
(c) The authority shall have an audit of its books and
accounts for each fiscal year by a certified public accountant. The
cost of the audit is an expense of the authority. [A copy of the
audit shall be filed with the governor and the legislature on or
before January 1 of each year.]
(d) On or before January 1 of each year, the authority shall
prepare a report of its activities for the preceding fiscal year.
The report must set forth a complete operating and financial
statement. [The authority shall file copies of the report with the
governor and the legislature as soon as practicable.]
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 487.051, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The office shall:
(1) assist rural communities in the key areas of
economic development, community development, rural health, and
rural housing;
(2) serve as a clearinghouse for information and
resources on all state and federal programs affecting rural
communities;
(3) in consultation with rural community leaders,
locally elected officials, state elected and appointed officials,
academic and industry experts, and the interagency work group
created under this chapter, identify and prioritize policy issues
and concerns affecting rural communities in the state;
(4) make recommendations to the legislature to address
the concerns affecting rural communities identified under
Subdivision (3);
(5) monitor developments that have a substantial
effect on rural Texas communities, especially actions of state
government[, and compile an annual report describing and evaluating
the condition of rural communities];
(6) administer the federal community development
block grant nonentitlement program;
(7) administer programs supporting rural health care
as provided by this chapter;
(8) perform research to determine the most beneficial
and cost-effective ways to improve the welfare of rural
communities;
(9) ensure that the office qualifies as the state's
office of rural health for the purpose of receiving grants from the
Office of Rural Health Policy of the United States Department of
Health and Human Services under 42 U.S.C. Section 254r;
(10) manage the state's Medicare rural hospital
flexibility program under 42 U.S.C. Section 1395i-4;
(11) seek state and federal money available for
economic development in rural areas for programs under this
chapter;
(12) in conjunction with other offices and divisions
of the Department of Agriculture, regularly cross-train office
employees with other employees of the Department of Agriculture
regarding the programs administered and services provided to rural
communities; and
(13) work with interested persons to assist volunteer
fire departments and emergency services districts in rural areas.
SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 487.804, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Not later than January 1 of each even-numbered year, the
commissioner shall submit to the legislature a report of the
findings of the advisory council and the activities of the Texas
Rural Foundation.
SECTION 4. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Section 15.006, Agriculture Code;
(2) Subsections (e) and (f), Section 102.167,
Agriculture Code;
(3) Section 487.056, Government Code; and
(4) Section 487.653, Government Code.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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