89R11991 BCH-D
By: Hancock S.B. No. 1594
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to renaming the Sunset Advisory Commission as the Sunset
Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency Advisory Commission and
the duties of that commission.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 325, Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 325. SUNSET LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE FOR COST EFFICIENCY
(SLICE) LAW
SECTION 2. Section 325.001, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 325.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the
Texas Sunset Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency (SLICE)
Act.
SECTION 3. Section 325.002(3), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(3) "Commission" means the Sunset Legislative
Initiative for Cost Efficiency Advisory Commission.
SECTION 4. The heading to Section 325.003, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 325.003. SUNSET LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE FOR COST
EFFICIENCY ADVISORY COMMISSION.
SECTION 5. Section 325.003(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The Sunset Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency
Advisory Commission is a legislative agency that consists of five
members of the senate and one public member appointed by the
lieutenant governor and five members of the house of
representatives and one public member appointed by the speaker of
the house. The lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house may
serve as one of the legislative appointees.
SECTION 6. Chapter 325, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 325.0035 to read as follows:
Sec. 325.0035. REFERENCES IN LAW. (a) A reference in law
to the Sunset Advisory Commission is a reference to the Sunset
Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency Advisory Commission.
(b) A reference in law to the Texas Sunset Act is a reference
to the Texas Sunset Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency
(SLICE) Act.
SECTION 7. Section 325.011, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 325.011. CRITERIA FOR REVIEW. The commission and its
staff shall consider the following criteria in determining whether
a public need exists for the continuation of a state agency or its
advisory committees or for the performance of the functions of the
agency or its advisory committees:
(1) the efficiency and effectiveness with which the
agency or the advisory committee operates, including:
(A) an assessment of efficiency in delivering
programs and services to entities and other persons; and
(B) an assessment of appropriated funds and
spending to determine potential spending efficiencies and identify
waste in the delivery of programs and services;
(2)(A) an identification of the mission, goals, and
objectives intended for the agency or advisory committee and of the
problem or need that the agency or advisory committee was intended
to address; and
(B) the extent to which the mission, goals, and
objectives have been achieved and the problem or need has been
addressed;
(3)(A) an identification of any activities of the
agency in addition to those granted by statute and of the authority
for those activities; and
(B) the extent to which those activities are
needed;
(4) an assessment of authority of the agency relating
to fees, inspections, enforcement, and penalties;
(5) whether less restrictive or alternative methods of
performing any function that the agency performs could adequately
protect or provide service to the public;
(6) the extent to which the jurisdiction of the agency
and the programs administered by the agency overlap or duplicate
those of other agencies, the extent to which the agency coordinates
with those agencies, and the extent to which the programs
administered by the agency can be consolidated with the programs of
other state agencies;
(7) the promptness and effectiveness with which the
agency addresses complaints concerning entities or other persons
affected by the agency, including an assessment of the agency's
administrative hearings process;
(8) an assessment of the agency's rulemaking process
and the extent to which the agency has encouraged participation by
the public in making its rules and decisions and the extent to which
the public participation has resulted in rules that benefit the
public;
(9) the extent to which the agency has complied with:
(A) federal and state laws and applicable rules
regarding equality of employment opportunity and the rights and
privacy of individuals; and
(B) state law and applicable rules of any state
agency regarding purchasing guidelines and programs for
historically underutilized businesses;
(10) the extent to which the agency issues and
enforces rules relating to potential conflicts of interest of its
employees;
(11) the extent to which the agency complies with
Chapters 551 and 552 and follows records management practices that
enable the agency to respond efficiently to requests for public
information;
(12) the effect of federal intervention or loss of
federal funds if the agency is abolished;
(13) the extent to which the purpose and effectiveness
of reporting requirements imposed on the agency justifies the
continuation of the requirement; and
(14) an assessment of the agency's cybersecurity
practices using confidential information available from the
Department of Information Resources or any other appropriate state
agency.
SECTION 8. (a) Effective January 1, 2026:
(1) the name of the Sunset Advisory Commission is
changed to the Sunset Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency
Advisory Commission, and all powers, duties, rights, and
obligations of the Sunset Advisory Commission are the powers,
duties, rights, and obligations of the Sunset Legislative
Initiative for Cost Efficiency Advisory Commission;
(2) a member of the Sunset Advisory Commission is a
member of the Sunset Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency
Advisory Commission; and
(3) any appropriation to the Sunset Advisory
Commission is an appropriation to the Sunset Legislative Initiative
for Cost Efficiency Advisory Commission.
(b) Effective January 1, 2026, a reference in law to the
Sunset Advisory Commission is a reference to the Sunset Legislative
Initiative for Cost Efficiency Advisory Commission.
(c) The Sunset Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency
Advisory Commission is the successor to the Sunset Advisory
Commission in all respects. All personnel, equipment, data,
documents, facilities, contracts, items, other property, rules,
decisions, and proceedings of or involving the Sunset Advisory
Commission are unaffected by the change in the name of the
commission.
(d) The Sunset Advisory Commission shall adopt a timetable
for phasing in the change of the commission's name so as to minimize
the fiscal impact of the name change. Until January 1, 2026, to
allow for phasing in the change of the commission's name and in
accordance with the timetable established as required by this
section, the commission may perform any act authorized by law for
the Sunset Advisory Commission as the Sunset Advisory Commission or
as the Sunset Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency Advisory
Commission. Any act of the Sunset Advisory Commission acting as the
Sunset Legislative Initiative for Cost Efficiency Advisory
Commission on or after the effective date of this Act and before
January 1, 2026, is an act of the Sunset Advisory Commission.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.