Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SR1 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

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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 offices
7	7		of the senate attended by 30 members of the senate, the caucus
8	8		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		88th Legislature are:
12	12		(1) Secretary of the Senate--Patsy Spaw;
13	13		(2) Calendar Clerk--Tracy Ortiz;
14	14		(3) Doorkeeper--Matthew Peabody;
15	15		(4) Enrolling Clerk--Patience Worrel;
16	16		(5) Journal Clerk--Lourdes Litchfield; and
17	17		(6) Sergeant-at-arms--Austin Osborn.
18	18		(b) Officers named in this section serve at the will of
19	19		the senate.
20	20		SECTION 3. PARLIAMENTARIAN AND ASSISTANT PARLIAMENTARIAN.
21	21		The parliamentarian, Karina Davis, and the assistant
22	22		parliamentarian, Colby Beuck, are named by the lieutenant
23	23		governor and serve at the will of the lieutenant governor. They
24	24		are senate officers.
25	25		SECTION 4. EMPLOYEES. (a) The lieutenant governor may
26	26		employ staff for the office of the lieutenant governor at
27	27		salaries set by the lieutenant governor.
28	28		(b) Each senator may employ staff for the senator's
29	29		office at salaries set by the senator.
30	30		(c) The chair of each committee may employ staff of the
31	31		chair's selection as needed by the committee. A committee
32	32		employee shall be compensated in amounts similar to the
33	33		compensation paid to persons in similar senate positions.
34	34		(d) The secretary of the senate may employ other staff
35	35		necessary for the operation of the senate at salaries approved by
36	36		the administration committee.
37	37		(e) The lieutenant governor, the secretary of the senate,
38	38		and each senator may use the assistance of any assistant
39	39		sergeant-at-arms or other available senate employee for any and
40	40		all services needed in and about the senate.
41	41		(f) In this resolution, "senate employee" includes an
42	42		employee of the lieutenant governor, the secretary of the senate,
43	43		a senator, a senate committee, and any other person compensated
44	44		from funds appropriated for the operation of the senate.
45	45		SECTION 5. DUTIES OF ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE. (a) In
46	46		addition to the duties of the administration committee expressly
47	47		imposed by this resolution, the committee shall take actions
48	48		necessary to ensure that the administrative operations of the
49	49		senate comply with applicable law and are conducted effectively
50	50		and efficiently.
51	51		(b) The committee shall establish appropriate and
52	52		necessary controls over contracts, inventory, and property
53	53		management.
54	54		(c) The committee may delegate any of its
55	55		responsibilities to the committee chair or to the secretary of
56	56		the senate to be performed under the general supervision of the
57	57		committee.
58	58		(d) Policies adopted by the administration committee
59	59		must be consistent with the provisions of this resolution. To
60	60		the extent of a conflict between a policy and this resolution,
61	61		this resolution prevails.
62	62		(e) Policies adopted by the administration committee are
63	63		subject to the will of the senate, and a majority of the senate
64	64		may reject or modify any policy adopted by the committee.
65	65		SECTION 6. EMPLOYMENT AND PERSONNEL POLICIES. (a) The
66	66		administration committee may adopt and enforce personnel and
67	67		employment policies governing senate employees.
68	68		(b) The administration committee may not adopt a policy
69	69		that limits the salary of an employee of the lieutenant governor,
70	70		a senator, or a senate committee, except that the administration
71	71		committee may require approval by that committee of any senate
72	72		committee employee salary that is proposed to exceed $5,000 a
73	73		month.
74	74		SECTION 7. MEMBER'S EMPLOYEE LEAVE POLICY. (a) An
75	75		employee of a senator accrues vacation leave, compensatory
76	76		leave, or sick leave in accordance with policies adopted by the
77	77		senator consistent with the requirements of this section.
78	78		(b) An employee may accrue vacation leave, compensatory
79	79		leave, or sick leave only if the employee files a monthly time
80	80		record with the senate human resources office. Time records are
81	81		due not later than the 10th day of the following month.
82	82		(c) Compensatory time must be used not later than the
83	83		last day of the 24th month following the month in which the time
84	84		was accrued.
85	85		(d) An employee is not entitled to compensation for
86	86		accrued but unused compensatory time.
87	87		SECTION 8. OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT. An employee of the senate
88	88		may not be employed by and receive compensation from any other
89	89		person during the term of senate employment without the
90	90		permission of the employee's senate employer.
91	91		SECTION 9. WORK HOURS. An employee shall report to work
92	92		at the time, and work for the number of hours, set by the
93	93		employee's senate employer.
94	94		SECTION 10. LIMIT ON MONTHLY STAFF SALARY AND TRAVEL
95	95		EXPENSES. (a) The total amount of staff salaries and intrastate
96	96		staff travel expenses for each senator may not exceed $60,000 per
97	97		month.
98	98		(b) This monthly amount accrues on the first day of the
99	99		month and may not be expended prior to the month in which it
100	100		accrues, but any unexpended portion for a month may be carried
101	101		forward from one month to the next and expended until the end of
102	102		the fiscal year.
103	103		(c) An unexpended amount remaining at the end of the
104	104		fiscal year, not to exceed $12,000, may be carried forward to the
105	105		next fiscal year. The total balance of unexpended funds
106	106		accumulated may not exceed $12,000 at the end of any fiscal
107	107		biennium.
108	108		SECTION 11. SENATORS' EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT AND PER
109	109		DIEM. (a) The secretary of the senate shall provide for the
110	110		reimbursement of the expenses of each senator and the payment of
111	111		each senator's per diem in accordance with law, this resolution,
112	112		and the rules of the Texas Ethics Commission.
113	113		(b) The per diem rate to be paid to each senator for the
114		-	88th Legislature is $~~221~~.
	114	+	88th Legislature is $224.
115	115		SECTION 12. OTHER SENATE EXPENSES. (a) The lieutenant
116	116		governor, the secretary of the senate, and each senator may incur
117	117		expenses for carrying out official duties, including expenses
118	118		for items such as subscriptions, stationery, postage, and
119	119		telecommunications.
120	120		(b) Expenses under this section shall be paid from the
121	121		contingent expense fund of the senate.
122	122		SECTION 13. PAYMENT OF SALARIES AND EXPENSES.
123	123		(a) Salaries and expenses authorized by this resolution shall
124	124		be paid from the contingent expense fund as provided by this
125	125		section.
126	126		(b) Vouchers for payment of any expense, including
127	127		salaries and travel expenses, must be signed by the chair of the
128	128		administration committee and the secretary of the senate.
129	129		(c) The administration committee shall adopt policies
130	130		regarding the presentation of timely, properly completed, and
131	131		signed vouchers.
132	132		SECTION 14. DESIGNATION FOR ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS AND
133	133		FUNCTIONS. (a) The administration committee shall designate a
134	134		senator or any employee to attend an official meeting of a
135	135		national governmental organization during a session of the 88th
136	136		Legislature. The person designated is entitled to reimbursement
137	137		for actual and necessary expenses.
138	138		(b) The lieutenant governor may designate a senator to
139	139		represent the senate at ceremonies and ceremonial functions. The
140	140		necessary expenses of the senator and necessary staff for this
141	141		purpose shall be paid pursuant to a budget adopted by the
142	142		administration committee.
143	143		SECTION 15. ELECTRONIC RECORDING BY MEMBER PROHIBITED.
144	144		No member of the senate may electronically record a private
145	145		conversation held within the brass rail on the senate floor
146	146		during a legislative session without the knowledge and consent of
147	147		all participants in the conversation.
148	148		SECTION 16. JOURNAL. The secretary of the senate shall
149	149		provide for the printing of not more than 250 copies of the daily
150	150		journal. Of that number:
151	151		(1) 140 shall be furnished to the house of
152	152		representatives;
153	153		(2) four shall be furnished to the Texas State
154	154		Library and Archives Commission;
155	155		(3) four shall be furnished to the Legislative
156	156		Reference Library; and
157	157		(4) the remainder shall be apportioned among the
158	158		senators and the lieutenant governor.
159	159		________________________________
160	160		President of the Senate
161	161		I hereby certify that the
162	162		above Resolution was adopted by
163	163		the Senate on January 10, 2023, by
164	164		the following vote: Yeas 31,
165	165		Nays 0.
166	166		________________________________
167	167		Secretary of the Senate
	168	+	________________________________
	169	+	Member, Texas Senate