| 1 | 1 | | 84R13567 SCL-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Isaac H.B. No. 3871 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to posting of certain financial information of certain |
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| 8 | 8 | | political subdivisions on the Internet. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Local Government |
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| 11 | 11 | | Transparency Act. |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 2. Chapter 140, Local Government Code, is amended |
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| 13 | 13 | | by adding Section 140.011 to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 140.011. POSTING OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF POLITICAL |
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| 15 | 15 | | SUBDIVISIONS ON THE INTERNET. (a) This section applies only to a |
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| 16 | 16 | | political subdivision with taxing authority, including a county, |
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| 17 | 17 | | municipality, and school district, that has a budget greater than |
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| 18 | 18 | | $100 million. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (b) The governing body of a political subdivision shall |
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| 20 | 20 | | establish and maintain in the manner provided by this section an |
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| 21 | 21 | | electronic format for accessing financial information regarding |
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| 22 | 22 | | the political subdivision's annual budget, check register, |
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| 23 | 23 | | tax-supported debt, revenue-supported debt, unfunded pension |
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| 24 | 24 | | liabilities, and unfunded other post-employment benefit |
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| 25 | 25 | | liabilities. |
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| 26 | 26 | | (c) The governing body shall post the information described |
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| 27 | 27 | | by this section on the political subdivision's Internet website. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (d) The format for a political subdivision's annual budget |
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| 29 | 29 | | must provide a display in pie charts or other graphical |
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| 30 | 30 | | representations of the political subdivision's revenue, including |
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| 31 | 31 | | taxes, and spending. The representations must provide the ability |
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| 32 | 32 | | to readily access more detailed subaccounts to a minimum level of |
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| 33 | 33 | | the lesser of seven subaccounts or the level of available |
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| 34 | 34 | | subaccount data. |
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| 35 | 35 | | (e) The format for a political subdivision's check register |
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| 36 | 36 | | must provide a searchable database that must include, for each |
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| 37 | 37 | | check issued from the political subdivision's checking account, the |
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| 38 | 38 | | check number or other payment identification, date, amount, |
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| 39 | 39 | | description, and payee. The database must include each payment |
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| 40 | 40 | | made to a vendor or elected official, and the database may not |
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| 41 | 41 | | include a payment made to a full-time unelected employee. At a |
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| 42 | 42 | | minimum, the database must allow a person to: |
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| 43 | 43 | | (1) sort information in ascending and descending order |
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| 44 | 44 | | by column heading; |
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| 45 | 45 | | (2) ascertain through a single search the payments |
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| 46 | 46 | | made to any payee; and |
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| 47 | 47 | | (3) download information yielded by a search of the |
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| 48 | 48 | | database. |
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| 49 | 49 | | (f) For purposes of including a political subdivision's |
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| 50 | 50 | | debt information under this section, the debt must be presented as |
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| 51 | 51 | | the total of the outstanding principal of the debt and any interest |
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| 52 | 52 | | and fees that will accrue over the remaining term of the debt. |
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| 53 | 53 | | (g) To the extent possible, the political subdivision shall |
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| 54 | 54 | | present the information described by this section in a manner that |
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| 55 | 55 | | may be accessed intuitively by a person using: |
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| 56 | 56 | | (1) for the political subdivision's budget, the best |
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| 57 | 57 | | available technology that provides the ability to readily access |
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| 58 | 58 | | more specific layers of data or information; and |
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| 59 | 59 | | (2) for the political subdivision's check register, |
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| 60 | 60 | | standard searching and sorting techniques. |
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| 61 | 61 | | (h) A political subdivision may not charge a fee to access |
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| 62 | 62 | | the information described by this section. |
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| 63 | 63 | | SECTION 3. Section 140.011, Local Government Code, as added |
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| 64 | 64 | | by this Act, applies only to a political subdivision's fiscal year |
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| 65 | 65 | | beginning on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 66 | 66 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
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