H.B. No. 425
AN ACT
relating to procedures to help ensure that certain state agency
actions are consistent with the meaning and intent of applicable
legislative enactments.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 322, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 322.015 to read as follows:
Sec. 322.015. LETTERS OF LEGISLATIVE INTENT. (a) The board
may issue a letter to a state governmental entity clarifying or
explaining meaning or legislative intent on matters relating to:
(1) the General Appropriations Act; or
(2) another legislative enactment that makes an
appropriation or qualifies, details, limits, or restricts an
appropriation.
(b) A state governmental entity, in interpreting a
provision of law described by Subsection (a), may rely on a letter
of legislative intent issued by the board under this section.
SECTION 2. Section 2001.032, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2001.032. LEGISLATIVE REVIEW AND NOTIFICATION. (a)
In the process of developing new rules and before a state agency
gives notice of its intention of adopting a rule under Sections
2001.023 and 2001.024, the agency shall research the legislative
history of the law and prepare a legislative history document on the
bill or amendment that authorizes a state agency to adopt the rule.
To effectively research and prepare a legislative history document,
the state agency must:
(1) confirm the names of the primary author and
sponsor of the legislation or amendment that authorizes the state
agency to adopt the rule with the chief clerk of the house of
representatives, the secretary of the senate, or an automated
information system operated by the Texas Legislative Council or
some other reliable information service;
(2) determine whether a statement or discussion of
legislative intent was entered into the journals of the senate or
house of representatives in connection with legislation that became
law and that added, amended, or clearly affected the law under which
the rule would be adopted;
(3) verify the standing of each legislative author or
sponsor identified in Subdivision (1) as to their current
membership in the legislature; and
(4) assemble the information gathered under
Subdivisions (1), (2), and (3) into a legislative history document
to be used by the state agency during the deliberative process of
developing new rules.
(b) In this section, a reference to the law under which a
rule is or would be adopted includes a reference to the law that
authorizes a state agency to adopt the rule and to the law that the
rule would implement or enforce.
(c) Before a state agency gives notice of its intention to
adopt a rule under Sections 2001.023 and 2001.024, the agency shall
establish an internal review process to ensure that the proposed
rule is consistent with the legislative history in enacting or
otherwise affecting the law under which the rule would be adopted.
(d) Before a state agency gives notice of its intention to
adopt a rule under Sections 2001.023 and 2001.024, the agency shall
inform the primary author and sponsor of legislation that became
law and that added, amended, or clearly affected the law under which
the rule would be adopted, if the primary author or sponsor is still
a member of the legislature, that the adoption of a rule related to
the member's legislation is being considered.
(e) Concurrently with the state agency's filing of the
notice with the secretary of state, the agency shall deliver a copy
of the notice of the proposed rule required by Sections 2001.023 and
2001.024 to the primary author and sponsor as described in the
legislative history if the primary author or sponsor is still a
member of the legislature.
(f) Not later than the seventh day before the date the state
agency considers the rule for final adoption, the agency shall
deliver to the primary author and sponsor a copy of the rule as
proposed for final adoption if the text of the rule differs from the
text of the proposed rule published under Section 2001.024 and if
the author or sponsor is still a member of the legislature. The
state agency also shall notify the primary author and sponsor in a
timely manner of the time and place of a public hearing held in
connection with the contemplated rulemaking if the primary author
or sponsor is still a member of the legislature.
(g) The state agency shall deliver a copy of an emergency
rule adopted under Section 2001.034 and the written reasons for its
adoption to the primary author and sponsor as determined by the
legislative history with respect to the law under which the
emergency rule was adopted concurrently with the agency's filing of
the rule and the reasons for its adoption with the secretary of
state. If the state agency gives an abbreviated notice or conducts a
hearing in connection with the adoption of the emergency rule, the
agency shall also promptly furnish the primary author and sponsor
with a copy of the notice and shall timely inform the primary author
and sponsor of the time and place of the hearing.
(h) Failure to provide notice under this section does not
invalidate an action taken or rule adopted. [Each house of the
legislature by rule shall establish a process under which the
presiding officer of each house refers each proposed state agency
rule to the appropriate standing committee for review before the
rule is adopted.
[(b) A state agency shall deliver to the lieutenant governor
and the speaker of the house of representatives a copy of the notice
of a proposed rule when the agency files notice with the secretary
of state under Section 2001.023.
[(c) On the vote of a majority of its members, a standing
committee may send to a state agency a statement supporting or
opposing adoption of a proposed rule.]
SECTION 3. Section 2001.024(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The notice of a proposed rule must include:
(1) a brief explanation of the proposed rule;
(2) the text of the proposed rule, except any portion
omitted under Section 2002.014, prepared in a manner to indicate
any words to be added or deleted from the current text;
(3) a statement of the statutory or other authority
under which the rule is proposed to be adopted, including:
(A) a concise explanation of the particular
statutory or other provisions under which the rule is proposed;
(B) the section or article of the code affected;
[and]
(C) a certification that the proposed rule has
been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the state
agency's authority to adopt; and
(D) a copy of the legislative history developed
and used by the agency during the proposal process;
(4) a fiscal note showing the name and title of the
officer or employee responsible for preparing or approving the note
and stating for each year of the first five years that the rule will
be in effect:
(A) the additional estimated cost to the state
and to local governments expected as a result of enforcing or
administering the rule;
(B) the estimated reductions in costs to the
state and to local governments as a result of enforcing or
administering the rule;
(C) the estimated loss or increase in revenue to
the state or to local governments as a result of enforcing or
administering the rule; and
(D) if applicable, that enforcing or
administering the rule does not have foreseeable implications
relating to cost or revenues of the state or local governments;
(5) a note about public benefits and costs showing the
name and title of the officer or employee responsible for preparing
or approving the note and stating for each year of the first five
years that the rule will be in effect:
(A) the public benefits expected as a result of
adoption of the proposed rule; and
(B) the probable economic cost to persons
required to comply with the rule;
(6) the local employment impact statement prepared
under Section 2001.022, if required;
(7) a request for comments on the proposed rule from
any interested person; and
(8) any other statement required by law.
SECTION 4. Section 2001.033, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2001.033. STATE AGENCY ORDER ADOPTING RULE. (a) A
state agency order finally adopting a rule must include:
(1) a reasoned justification for the rule as adopted
consisting solely of:
(A) a summary of comments received from parties
and of any written comments received from members of the
legislature interested in the rule that shows the names of
interested groups or associations offering comment on the rule and
of members of the legislature offering written comment on the rule
and whether they were for or against its adoption;
(B) a summary of the factual basis for the rule as
adopted which demonstrates a rational connection between the
factual basis for the rule and the rule as adopted; and
(C) the reasons why the agency disagrees with
party submissions and proposals and with any written comments or
proposals offered by a member of the legislature;
(2) a concise restatement of the particular statutory
provisions under which the rule is adopted and of how the agency
interprets the provisions as authorizing or requiring the rule; and
(3) a certification that the rule, as adopted, has
been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be:
(A) a valid exercise of the agency's legal
authority; and
(B) consistent with the intent of the legislature
in enacting or otherwise affecting the law under which the rule is
adopted, as described by Section 2001.032(a).
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require
additional analysis of alternatives not adopted by an agency beyond
that required by Subsection (a)(1)(C) [Subdivision (1)(C)] or to
require the reasoned justification to be stated separately from the
statements required in Subsection (a)(1) [Subdivision (1)].
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act relating to
the process of state agency rulemaking apply only in relation to:
(1) a state agency rule for which notice of the rule as
proposed is first published in the Texas Register under Sections
2001.023 and 2001.024, Government Code, on or after October 1,
2003; or
(2) an emergency rule adopted on or after September
15, 2003.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 425 was passed by the House on May 5,
2003, by a non-record vote; that the House refused to concur in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 425 on May 28, 2003, and requested the
appointment of a conference committee to consider the differences
between the two houses; and that the House adopted the conference
committee report on H.B. No. 425 on June 1, 2003, by a non-record
vote; and that the House adopted H.C.R. No. 293 authorizing certain
corrections in H.B. No. 425 on June 2, 2003, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 425 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 27, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
425 on June 1, 2003, by a viva-voce vote; and that the Senate
adopted H.C.R. No. 293 authorizing certain corrections in H.B. No.
425 on June 2, 2003.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor