78R11559 JRD-D
By: Christian, Miller, Eissler H.B. No. 425
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 425:
By: Goodman C.S.H.B. No. 425
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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 CLARIFICATION. (a) The board may
issue a letter clarifying or explaining the meaning or intent of a
provision:
(1) in the General Appropriations Act; or
(2) in another legislative enactment if the provision
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), is entitled to rely on
a letter of clarification issued by the board under this section.
SECTION 2. Section 2001.032, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2001.032. NOTIFICATION TO CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE
LEGISLATURE [LEGISLATIVE REVIEW]. (a) 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.
(b) Before a state agency gives notice of its intention to
adopt a rule under Sections 2001.023 and 2001.024, the agency shall
inform each primary author and primary sponsor of legislation
enacted after January 1, 2003, that became law and that added,
amended, or clearly affected the law under which the rule would be
adopted, if the person is still a member of the legislature, that
the adoption of a rule related to the member's legislation is being
considered.
(c) The state agency shall deliver a copy of the notice of
the proposed rule required by Sections 2001.023 and 2001.024 to
each member of the legislature described by Subsection (b)
concurrently with the agency's filing of the notice with the
secretary of state. Not later than the seventh day before the date
the state agency considers the rule for final adoption, the agency
shall also deliver to the member 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 shall solicit
comment from the member regarding the changed text of the proposed
rule. The state agency also shall:
(1) timely inform the member of the time and place of
any public hearing or formal meeting held in connection with the
contemplated rulemaking and allow the member or the member's
designated representative to participate; and
(2) invite the member or the member's designated
representative to participate as a member of any advisory committee
the state agency appoints in connection with the contemplated
rulemaking.
(d) The state agency shall deliver a copy of an emergency
rule adopted under Section 2001.034 and the written reasons for its
adoption to each member of the legislature described by Subsection
(b) 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 member with a copy of the notice and
shall timely inform the member of the time and place of any hearing.
[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. Subchapter B, Chapter 2001, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2001.0321 to read as follows:
Sec. 2001.0321. INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF RULES; SUSPENSION OF
RULE BY GOVERNOR. (a) The chair of any standing committee of
either house of the legislature may request the presiding officer
of that house to initiate an independent review of a rule proposed
or adopted by a state agency unless the rule has been in effect for
more than 180 days before the date the request is made. Not later
than the 10th day after the date the request is made, the presiding
officer shall:
(1) notify the petitioning chair whether the review
will be conducted; and
(2) refer the rule to the appropriate standing
committee if the presiding officer determines that a review of the
rule is appropriate.
(b) A standing committee shall review any proposed or
adopted rule referred to it. The committee may hold a public hearing
or a meeting on the rule or proposed rule. In reviewing a rule or
proposed rule, the committee shall consider:
(1) whether the rule is authorized by law and is
consistent with the intent and scope of the authorizing law;
(2) whether the rule complies with all other
applicable law; and
(3) whether the rule can be justified when compared to
available alternatives that would satisfy the legislative intent of
the authorizing law and requirements of other applicable law on the
basis of:
(A) the cost to the state and to persons affected
by the rule; and
(B) the burden the rule places on the public or
persons affected by the rule.
(c) The committee by majority vote of the membership of the
committee may recommend to the presiding officer of the appropriate
house that the presiding officer request the governor to suspend
the rule or proposed rule.
(d) The committee may meet by telephone conference call to
consider a rule or proposed rule under this section. The notice of
the meeting must specify as the location of the meeting at least one
location at which facilities must be provided to make the meeting
audible to the public. The meeting shall be recorded on audiotape
and the tape recordings shall be made available to the public.
(e) As an alternative to holding a meeting on the question,
the chair of the committee may notify the members of the committee
that a rule or proposed rule has been referred to the committee and
provide each member with a ballot to permit voting for, voting
against, or participating and not voting on whether the committee
shall recommend that the presiding officer request the governor to
suspend the rule or proposed rule. The chair shall give each member
an opportunity to vote or participate by mail or by facsimile
transmission of a marked ballot.
(f) If the committee recommends that the presiding officer
request the governor to suspend the rule or proposed rule, the
chair, not later than the 10th day after the date the recommendation
is made, shall give written notice of the committee recommendation
to:
(1) the presiding officer of the appropriate house;
(2) the state agency that adopted or proposed the
rule; and
(3) each member of the house of the legislature that
established the committee.
(g) Not later than the 20th day after the date of the
committee action, a member of that house may file a written
objection to or statement of support for the committee's action
with the presiding officer of that house.
(h) Not later than the 20th day after the date the presiding
officer receives notice that a committee has recommended that the
presiding officer request the governor to suspend a rule or
proposed rule, the presiding officer may request the governor to do
so. In making a decision under this subsection, the presiding
officer shall consider any objections or statements of support
filed by members of the house under Subsection (g). If the
presiding officer requests the governor to suspend the rule or
proposed rule, the presiding officer shall give written notice of
the request to:
(1) the governor;
(2) the state agency that adopted or proposed the
rule;
(3) the secretary of state; and
(4) the presiding officer of the other house of the
legislature.
(i) On the request of the presiding officer of either house
of the legislature under this section, the governor by proclamation
may suspend a rule, other than an emergency rule, adopted or
proposed by a state agency. The governor shall consider the items
listed in Subsection (b) and shall state in the proclamation the
grounds for suspension of the rule or proposed rule. The governor
must state in the proclamation the date on which the suspension
takes effect. The effective date of the suspension may not be
earlier than the 30th day after the date of the proclamation. Not
later than the fifth day after the date of the proclamation, the
governor shall:
(1) deliver a certified copy of the proclamation to
the state agency that adopted or proposed the rule; and
(2) file notice of the proclamation with the secretary
of state for publication in the Texas Register.
(j) When a rule or proposed rule is suspended under this
section, the state agency that adopted or proposed the rule may not
adopt a rule containing the substance of the suspended rule before
the second anniversary of the date the suspension takes effect,
unless the governor by proclamation consents to adoption of the
rule. On or after the second anniversary, the state agency may
adopt the same rule or a rule containing the substance of the
suspended rule as provided by this subchapter.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
2001.032, Government Code, 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.