Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SR1 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Whitmire S.R. No. 1
2	2
3	3
4	4	SENATE RESOLUTION
5	5	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
6	6	SECTION 1. CAUCUS REPORT. At a caucus held in the
7	7	offices of the senate attended by 30 members of the senate, the
8	8	caucus made the recommendations for the operation of the senate
9	9	contained in this resolution.
10	10	SECTION 2. SENATE OFFICERS. (a) Senate officers for the
11	11	86th Legislature are:
12	12	(1) Secretary of the Senate--Patsy Spaw;
13	13	(2) Calendar Clerk--Tracy Ortiz;
14	14	(3) Doorkeeper--Austin Osborn;
15	15	(4) Enrolling Clerk--Patience Worrel;
16	16	(5) Journal Clerk--Lourdes Litchfield; and
17	17	(6) Sergeant-at-arms--Rick DeLeon.
18	18	(b) Officers named in this section serve at the will of
19	19	the senate.
20	20	SECTION 3. PARLIAMENTARIAN. The parliamentarian, Karina
21	21	Davis, is named by the lieutenant governor and serves at the will
22	22	of the lieutenant governor. The parliamentarian is a senate
23	23	officer.
24	24	SECTION 4. EMPLOYEES. (a) The lieutenant governor may
25	25	employ staff for the office of the lieutenant governor at
26	26	salaries set by the lieutenant governor.
27	27	(b) Each senator may employ staff for the senator's
28	28	office at salaries set by the senator.
29	29	(c) The chair of each committee may employ staff of the
30	30	chair's selection as needed by the committee. A committee
31	31	employee shall be compensated in amounts similar to the
32	32	compensation paid to persons in similar senate positions.
33	33	(d) The secretary of the senate may employ other staff
34	34	necessary for the operation of the senate at salaries approved by
35	35	the administration committee.
36	36	(e) The lieutenant governor, the secretary of the senate,
37	37	and each senator may use the assistance of any assistant
38	38	sergeant-at-arms or other available senate employee for any and
39	39	all services needed in and about the senate.
40	40	(f) In this resolution, "senate employee" includes an
41	41	employee of the lieutenant governor, the secretary of the senate,
42	42	a senator, a senate committee, and any other person compensated
43	43	from funds appropriated for the operation of the senate.
44	44	SECTION 5. DUTIES OF ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE. (a) In
45	45	addition to the duties of the administration committee expressly
46	46	imposed by this resolution, the committee shall take actions
47	47	necessary to ensure that the administrative operations of the
48	48	senate comply with applicable law and are conducted effectively
49	49	and efficiently.
50	50	(b) The committee shall establish appropriate and
51	51	necessary controls over contracts, inventory, and property
52	52	management.
53	53	(c) The committee may delegate any of its
54	54	responsibilities to the committee chair or to the secretary of
55	55	the senate to be performed under the general supervision of the
56	56	committee.
57	57	(d) Policies adopted by the administration committee
58	58	must be consistent with the provisions of this resolution. To
59	59	the extent of a conflict between a policy and this resolution,
60	60	this resolution prevails.
61	61	(e) Policies adopted by the administration committee are
62	62	subject to the will of the senate, and a majority of the senate
63	63	may reject or modify any policy adopted by the committee.
64	64	SECTION 6. EMPLOYMENT AND PERSONNEL POLICIES. (a) The
65	65	administration committee may adopt and enforce personnel and
66	66	employment policies governing senate employees.
67	67	(b) The administration committee may not adopt a policy
68	68	that limits the salary of an employee of the lieutenant governor,
69	69	a senator, or a senate committee, except that the administration
70	70	committee may require approval by that committee of any senate
71	71	committee employee salary that is proposed to exceed $5,000 a
72	72	month.
73	73	SECTION 7. MEMBER'S EMPLOYEE LEAVE POLICY. (a) An
74	74	employee of a senator accrues vacation leave, compensatory
75	75	leave, or sick leave in accordance with policies adopted by the
76	76	senator consistent with the requirements of this section.
77	77	(b) An employee may accrue vacation leave, compensatory
78	78	leave, or sick leave only if the employee files a monthly time
79	79	record with the senate human resources office. Time records are
80	80	due not later than the 10th day of the following month.
81	81	(c) Compensatory time must be used not later than the
82	82	last day of the 12th month following the month in which the time
83	83	was accrued.
84	84	(d) An employee is not entitled to compensation for
85	85	accrued but unused compensatory time.
86	86	SECTION 8. OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT. An employee of the senate
87	87	may not be employed by and receive compensation from any other
88	88	person during the term of senate employment without the
89	89	permission of the employee's senate employer.
90	90	SECTION 9. WORK HOURS. An employee shall report to work
91	91	at the time, and work for the number of hours, set by the
92	92	employee's senate employer.
93	93	SECTION 10. LIMIT ON MONTHLY STAFF SALARY AND TRAVEL
94	94	EXPENSES. (a) The total amount of staff salaries and intrastate
95	95	staff travel expenses for each senator may not exceed $43,000 per
96	96	month.
97	97	(b) This monthly amount accrues on the first day of the
98	98	month and may not be expended prior to the month in which it
99	99	accrues, but any unexpended portion for a month may be carried
100	100	forward from one month to the next and expended until the end of
101	101	the fiscal year.
102	102	(c) An unexpended amount remaining at the end of the
103	103	fiscal year, not to exceed $10,000, may be carried forward to the
104	104	next fiscal year. The total balance of unexpended funds
105	105	accumulated may not exceed $10,000 at the end of any fiscal
106	106	biennium.
107	107	SECTION 11. SENATORS' EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT AND PER
108	108	DIEM. (a) The secretary of the senate shall provide for the
109	109	reimbursement of the expenses of each senator and the payment of
110	110	each senator's per diem in accordance with law, this resolution,
111	111	and the rules of the Texas Ethics Commission.
112	112	(b) The per diem rate to be paid to each senator for the
113	113	86th Legislature is $221.
114	114	SECTION 12. OTHER SENATE EXPENSES. (a) The lieutenant
115	115	governor, the secretary of the senate, and each senator may incur
116	116	expenses for carrying out official duties, including expenses
117	117	for items such as subscriptions, stationery, postage, and
118	118	telecommunications.
119	119	(b) Expenses under this section shall be paid from the
120	120	contingent expense fund of the senate.
121	121	SECTION 13. PAYMENT OF SALARIES AND EXPENSES.
122	122	(a) Salaries and expenses authorized by this resolution shall
123	123	be paid from the contingent expense fund as provided by this
124	124	section.
125	125	(b) Vouchers for payment of any expense, including
126	126	salaries and travel expenses, must be signed by the chair of the
127	127	administration committee and the secretary of the senate.
128	128	(c) The administration committee shall adopt policies
129	129	regarding the presentation of timely, properly completed, and
130	130	signed vouchers.
131	131	SECTION 14. DESIGNATION FOR ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS AND
132	132	FUNCTIONS. (a) The administration committee shall designate a
133	133	senator or any employee to attend an official meeting of a
134	134	national governmental organization during a session of the 86th
135	135	Legislature. The person designated is entitled to reimbursement
136	136	for actual and necessary expenses.
137	137	(b) The lieutenant governor may designate a senator to
138	138	represent the senate at ceremonies and ceremonial functions. The
139	139	necessary expenses of the senator and necessary staff for this
140	140	purpose shall be paid pursuant to a budget adopted by the
141	141	administration committee.
142	142	SECTION 15. ELECTRONIC RECORDING BY MEMBER PROHIBITED.
143	143	No member of the senate may electronically record a private
144	144	conversation held within the brass rail on the senate floor
145	145	during a legislative session without the knowledge and consent of
146	146	all participants in the conversation.
147	147	SECTION 16. JOURNAL. The secretary of the senate shall
148	148	provide for the printing of not more than 250 copies of the daily
149	149	journal. Of that number:
150	150	(1) 140 shall be furnished to the house of
151	151	representatives;
152	152	(2) four shall be furnished to the Texas State
153	153	Library and Archives Commission;
154	154	(3) four shall be furnished to the Legislative
155	155	Reference Library; and
156	156	(4) the remainder shall be apportioned among the
157	157	senators and the lieutenant governor.
158	158	_______________________________
159	159	President of the Senate
160	160	I hereby certify that the
161	161	above Resolution was adopted by
162	162	the Senate on January 9, 2019, by
163	163	the following vote: Yeas 31,
164	164	Nays 0.
165	165	_______________________________
166	166	Secretary of the Senate