By: Parker H.B. No. 2493
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to self-directed and semi-independent status of the State
Securities Board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1.1. The Securities Act (Article 581-1 et seq., Vernon's
Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding Sections 44, 45, 46, 47,
48, 49, 50, 51, and 52 to read as follows:
Sec. 44. SELF-DIRECTED AND SEMI-INDEPENDENT STATUS.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State
Securities Board is self-directed and semi-independent as
specified by The Securities Act. Any Act of the 84th Legislature
that relates to the agency and that is inconsistent with the agency
being self-directed and semi-independent may be implemented by the
Commissioner only on authorization by the Board.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this Act, the State
Securities Board is subject to a provision of law that applies to
state agencies, including:
(1) state purchasing requirements under Subtitle D,
Title 10, Government Code;
(2) interagency transfer voucher requirements under
Section 2155.327, Government Code;
(3) travel requirements under chapters 2171 and 2205,
Government Code, using amounts provided by the General
Appropriations Act to guide travel reimbursement rates; and
(4) prompt payment requirements under chapter 2251,
Government Code.
Sec. 45. BUDGET, REVENUES, AND EXPENSES.
(a) The Commissioner shall submit to the Board a budget
annually using generally accepted accounting principles.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including the General
Appropriations Act, the budget shall be adopted and approved only
by the Board.
(b) The State Securities Board shall be responsible for all
direct and indirect costs of the agency's existence and operation.
The agency may not directly or indirectly cause the general revenue
fund to incur any cost.
(c) Subject to any limitations in this Act, the Board may
set the amounts of the respective fees, penalties, charges, and
revenues required or permitted by statute or rule as necessary for
the purpose of carrying out the functions of the agency and funding
the budget adopted and approved under Subsection (a).
(d) Periodically, the Commissioner shall submit to the
Board, as directed by the Board, a report of the receipts and
expenditures of the agency.
(e) The fiscal year for the agency begins on September 1 and
ends on August 31.
(f) All fees and funds collected by the agency under Section
35.A and any funds appropriated to the agency shall be deposited in
interest-bearing deposit accounts in the Texas Treasury
Safekeeping Trust Company to be used exclusively to pay costs
incurred by the State Securities Board in administering The
Securities Act. The comptroller shall contract with the agency for
the maintenance of the deposit accounts under terms comparable to a
contract between a commercial banking institution and the
institution's customers. The agency may not hold funds in an
account that is not under the control of the comptroller.
(g) Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section,
all other monies collected by the State Securities Board and any
other funds belonging to or under the control of the State
Securities Board shall be deposited into the General Revenue Fund.
(h) If the Commissioner or Board determines that all or part
of a registration fee should be refunded, the refund shall be made
by warrant on the State Treasury from the fund into which the
registration fee was deposited.
(i) The agency shall use the comptroller's uniform
statewide accounting system under Chapter 2101 to make all
payments, other than direct payments from the agency's account to
the Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company.
Sec. 46. RECORDS; REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) The Commissioner shall keep financial and statistical
information as necessary to disclose completely and accurately the
financial condition and results of operations of the agency.
(b) Before the beginning of each regular session of the
legislature, the Commissioner shall submit to the legislature and
the governor a report describing all of the agency's activities in
the previous biennium. The report must include:
(1) an audit;
(2) a financial report of the previous fiscal year,
including reports on financial condition and results of operations;
(3) a description of all changes in fees imposed on
regulated persons;
(4) a report on changes in the regulatory jurisdiction
of the agency; and
(5) a list of all new rules adopted or repealed.
(c) In addition to the reporting requirements of Subsection
(b), not later than November 1 of each year, the Commissioner shall
submit to the governor, the committee of each house of the
legislature that has jurisdiction over appropriations, and the
Legislative Budget Board a report that contains:
(1) the salary for agency personnel and the total
amount of per diem expenses and travel expenses paid for all agency
employees, including trend performance data for the preceding five
fiscal years;
(2) the total amount of per diem expenses and travel
expenses paid for each member of the Board, including trend
performance data for the preceding five fiscal years;
(3) the agency's operating plan covering a period of
two fiscal years and operating budget, including revenues and a
breakdown of expenditures by program and administrative expenses,
showing:
(A) projected budget data for a period of two
fiscal years; and
(B) trend performance data for the preceding five
fiscal years regarding:
(1) the number of full-time equivalent
positions at the agency;
(2) the number of complaints received from
the public and the number of complaints initiated by agency staff;
(3) the number of complaints dismissed and
the number of complaints resolved by enforcement action;
(4) the number of enforcement actions by
sanction type;
(5) the number of enforcement cases closed
through voluntary compliance;
(6) the amount of administrative penalties
assessed and the rate of collection of assessed administrative
penalties;
(7) the number of enforcement cases that
allege a threat to public health, safety, or welfare or a violation
of professional standards of care and the disposition of those
cases;
(8) the average time to resolve a
complaint;
(9) the number of license holders or
regulated persons broken down by type of license and license
status, including inactive status or retired status;
(10) the fee charged to issue and renew each
type of license, certificate, permit, or other similar
authorization issued by the agency;
(11) the average time to issue a license;
(12) litigation costs, broken down by
administrative hearings, judicial proceedings, and outside counsel
costs; and
(13) reserve fund balances; and
(4) a detailed report of all revenue received and all
expenses incurred by the agency in the previous 12 months.
Sec. 47. ABILITY TO CONTRACT.
(a) To carry out and promote the objectives of this Act, the
Commissioner may enter into contracts and do all other acts
incidental to those contracts that are necessary for the
administration of the agency's affairs and for the attainment of
the agency's purposes, except as limited by Subsection (b).
(b) Any indebtedness, liability, or obligation of the
agency incurred under this section may not:
(1) create a debt or other liability of this state or
another entity other than the agency; or
(2) create any personal liability on the part of the
members of the Board or the agency's employees.
Sec. 48. PROPERTY. The agency may:
(1) acquire by purchase, lease, gift, or any other
manner provided by law and maintain, use, and operate any real,
personal, or mixed property, or any interest in property, necessary
or convenient to the exercise of the powers, rights, privileges, or
functions of the agency;
(2) sell or otherwise dispose of any real, personal,
or mixed property, or any interest in property, that the
Commissioner determines is not necessary or convenient to the
exercise of the agency's powers, rights, privileges, or functions;
(3) construct, extend, improve, maintain, and
reconstruct, or cause to construct, extend, improve, maintain, and
reconstruct, and use and operate all facilities necessary or
convenient to the exercise of the powers, rights, privileges, or
functions of the agency; and
(4) borrow money, as may be authorized from time to
time by an affirmative vote of a three-fifths majority of the Board,
for a period not to exceed five years if necessary or convenient to
the exercise of the agency's powers, rights, privileges, or
functions.
Sec. 49. POST-PARTICIPATION LIABILITY.
(a) If the agency no longer has status under The Securities
Act as a self-directed semi-independent agency for any reason, the
agency shall be liable for any expenses or debts incurred by the
agency during the time the agency was a self-directed
semi-independent agency. The agency's liability under this section
includes liability for any lease entered into by the agency. This
state is not liable for any expense or debt covered by this
subsection, and money from the general revenue fund may not be used
to repay the expense or debt.
(b) If the agency no longer has status under The Securities
Act as a self-directed semi-independent agency for any reason,
ownership of any property or other asset acquired by the agency
during the time the agency was a self-directed semi-independent
agency, including unexpended fees in a deposit account in the Texas
Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company, shall be transferred to this
state.
Sec. 50. DUE PROCESS; OPEN GOVERNMENT. The State Securities
Board is:
(1) a governmental body for purposes of Chapters 551 and
552, Government Code; and
(2) a state agency for purposes of Chapters 2001 and 2005,
Government Code.
Sec. 51. MEMBERSHIP IN EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
Employees of the State Securities Board are members of the
Employees Retirement System of Texas under Chapter 812, Government
Code, and the State Securities Board's transition to independent
status as provided by this Act has no effect on their membership or
any benefits under that system.
Sec. 52. GIFTS.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Commissioner may not
accept a gift, grant, or donation on behalf of the agency:
(1) from a party to an enforcement action; or
(2) to pursue a specific investigation or enforcement
action.
(b) The Commissioner must:
(1) report each gift, grant, or donation that the
agency receives as a separate item in the agency's report required
under Section 47(b); and
(2) include with the report a statement indicating the
purpose for which each gift, grant, or donation was donated and
used.
SECTION 1.2. Section 2, The Securities Act (Article 581-2,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsections
D, G, K, and O to read as follows:
D. Each member of the Board is entitled to reimbursement for
the travel expenses incurred per diem as set by legislative
appropriation for each day that the member engages in the business
of the Board.
The Governor shall designate a member of the Board as
the presiding officer of the Board to serve in that capacity at the
will of the Governor. A majority of the members shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of any business.
G. The Board shall appoint a Securities Commissioner who
serves at the pleasure of the Board and who shall, under the
supervision of the Board, administer the provisions of this Act.
The Board shall determine the salary of the Securities
Commissioner. Each member of the Board shall have access to all
offices and records under his supervision, and the Board, or a
majority thereof, may exercise any power or perform any act
authorized to the Securities Commissioner by the provisions of this
Act.
K. The Commissioner or his designee shall develop an
intraagency career ladder program, one part of which shall be the
intraagency posting of all nonentry level positions for at least
ten (10) days before any public posting. The Commissioner or his
designee shall develop a system of annual performance evaluations
based on measurable job tasks. All merit pay for Board employees
must be based on the system established under this section. The
Commissioner shall determine the number of Board employees and the
salaries of those employees.
O. The State Securities Board is subject to Chapter 325,
Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence
as provided by that chapter, the board is abolished and this Act
expires September 1, 2019. The Sunset Advisory Commission shall
examine the agency's performance as a self-directed and
semi-independent agency as part of the commission's periodic review
of the agency under Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset
Act). The agency shall pay the cost incurred by the Sunset Advisory
Commission in performing a review of the agency under the agency's
enabling legislation. The Sunset Advisory Commission shall
determine the cost, and the agency shall pay the amount promptly on
receipt of a statement from the Sunset Advisory Commission
detailing the cost.
SECTION 1.3. Subsection C of Section 2-3, The Securities Act
(Article 581-2-3, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
read as follows:
C. A person appointed to the Board is entitled to
reimbursement, as provided by the General Appropriations Act, for
the travel expenses incurred in attending the training program
regardless of whether the attendance at the program occurs before
or after the person qualifies for office.
SECTION 1.4. Subsection A of Section 35, The Securities Act
(Article 581-35, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
as follows:
A. The Board shall establish the following fees to produce
in amounts so that the aggregate amount that exceeds the amount of
the fees on September 1, 2002, produces sufficient revenue to cover
the costs of administering and enforcing this Act:
(1) for the filing of any original, amended, or
renewal application to sell or dispose of securities, an amount not
to exceed $100;
(2) for the filing of any original application of a
dealer or investment adviser or for the submission of a notice
filing for a federal covered investment adviser, an amount not to
exceed $100;
(3) for the filing of any renewal application of a
dealer or investment adviser or for the submission of a renewal
notice filing for a federal covered investment adviser, an amount
not to exceed $100;
(4) for the filing of any original application for
each agent, officer, or investment adviser representative or for
the submission of a notice filing for each representative of a
federal covered investment adviser, an amount not to exceed $100;
and
(5) for the filing of any renewal application for each
agent, officer, or investment adviser representative or for the
submission of a renewal notice filing for each representative of a
federal covered investment adviser, an amount not to exceed $100.
SECTION 1.5. Subsections J and N of Section 2, The Securities Act
(Article 581-2, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), Subsections C and D
of Section 35, The Securities Act (Article 581-35, Vernon's Texas
Civil Statutes), and Section 36, The Securities Act (Article
581-36, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) are repealed.
SECTION 2.1. To provide a reasonable period for the State
Securities Board to establish itself as a self-directed and
semi-independent agency, the following amounts are appropriated
from the general revenue fund to the State Securities Board:
(1) for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2016,
an amount equal to 50% of the amount of general revenue appropriated
to the agency for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2015; and
(2) for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2017,
an amount equal to 50% of the amount of general revenue appropriated
to the agency for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2015.
SECTION 2.2. Subject to Section 45, as added by this Act, the
appropriations made in this Act may be spent by the State Securities
Board to which they are made as the Commissioner directs. The agency
shall repay to the general revenue fund the appropriation made to
the agency for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2016, not
later than that date and as funds become available. The agency shall
repay to the general revenue fund the appropriation made to the
agency for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2017, not later
than that date and as funds become available.
SECTION 3.1. The transfer of the State Securities Board to
self-directed and semi-independent status under this Act, and the
expiration of self-directed and semi-independent status may not act
to cancel, suspend, or prevent:
(1) any debt owed to or by the State Securities Board;
(2) any fine, tax, penalty, or obligation of any party;
(3) any contract or other obligation of any party; or
(
4) any action taken by the State Securities Board,
Commissioner, or agency in the administration or enforcement of the
agency's duties.
SECTION 3.2. The State Securities Board shall continue to have and
exercise the powers and duties allocated to the agency in the
agency's enabling legislation, except as specifically amended by
this Act.
SECTION 4.1. Title to or ownership of all supplies, materials,
records, equipment, books, papers, and furniture used by the State
Securities Board is transferred to the State Securities Board in
fee simple. This Act does not affect any property owned by the State
Securities Board on or before the effective date of this section.
SECTION 4.2. Beginning September 1, 2015, the State Securities
Board shall pay rent to this state in a reasonable amount to be
determined by the Texas Facilities Commission for its use and
occupancy of state-owned office space.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.