S.B. No. 1000

	AN ACT
	relating to self-directed and semi-independent status of the Texas
	Real Estate Commission; making an appropriation.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle A, Title 7, Occupations Code, is
	amended by adding Chapter 1105 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 1105.  SELF-DIRECTED AND SEMI-INDEPENDENT STATUS OF
	TEXAS REAL ESTATE COMMISSION
	Sec. 1105.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this section:
	(1)  "Agency" means the commission and the board.
	(2)  "Board" means the Texas Appraiser Licensing and
	Certification Board.
	(3)  "Commission" means the Texas Real Estate
	Commission.
	Sec. 1105.002.  SELF-DIRECTED AND SEMI-INDEPENDENT STATUS.
	(a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the agency is
	self-directed and semi-independent as specified by this chapter.
	Any Act of the 82nd Legislature that relates to the agency and that
	is inconsistent with the agency being self-directed and
	semi-independent may be implemented by the administrator of the
	agency only on authorization by the agency.
	(b)  This chapter does not affect the board's status as an
	independent subdivision of the commission as provided by Section
	1103.051.
	Sec. 1105.003.  BUDGET, REVENUES, AND EXPENSES.
	(a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including the
	General Appropriations Act, the commission and the board shall each
	adopt a separate budget annually using generally accepted
	accounting principles.
	(b)  The commission shall be responsible for all direct and
	indirect costs of the commission's existence and operation. The
	board shall be responsible for all direct and indirect costs of the
	board's existence and operation.  The agency may not directly or
	indirectly cause the general revenue fund to incur any cost.
	(c)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
	commission and the board may each set the amounts of the respective
	fees, penalties, charges, and revenues required or permitted by
	statute or rule as necessary for the purpose of carrying out the
	separate functions of the commission and the board and funding the
	respective budgets of the commission and the board adopted and
	approved under Subsection (a).
	(d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), all fees and funds
	collected by the commission or the board and any funds appropriated
	to the commission or the board shall be deposited in
	interest-bearing deposit accounts in the Texas Treasury
	Safekeeping Trust Company. The comptroller shall contract with the
	commission and the board for the maintenance of the deposit
	accounts under terms comparable to a contract between a commercial
	banking institution and the institution's customers.
	(e)  A fee collected under:
	(1)  Section 1101.153(b)(2) shall be deposited in Fund
	0193 in the state treasury; and
	(2)  Section 1101.153(b)(3) shall be deposited in Fund
	0001 in the state treasury.
	(f)  Not later than August 31 of each fiscal year, the agency
	shall remit $750,000 to the general revenue fund.
	(g)  The fiscal year for the agency begins on September 1 and
	ends on August 31.
	Sec. 1105.004.  AUDITS. (a)  This chapter does not affect
	the duty of the state auditor to audit the agency. The state
	auditor shall enter into a contract and schedule with the agency to
	conduct audits.
	(b)  Not later than August 31 of each fiscal year, the agency
	shall remit a nonrefundable retainer to the state auditor in an
	amount not less than $10,000.  The agency shall reimburse the state
	auditor for all costs incurred, in excess of the aggregate
	nonrefundable retainer amounts paid each fiscal year, in performing
	the audits and shall provide to the governor a copy of any audit
	performed.
	Sec. 1105.005.  RECORDS; REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. (a)  The
	agency shall keep financial and statistical information as
	necessary to disclose completely and accurately the financial
	condition and results of operations of the agency.
	(b)  Before the beginning of each regular session of the
	legislature, the agency shall submit to the legislature and the
	governor a report describing all of the agency's activities in the
	previous biennium. The report must include:
	(1)  an audit as required by Section 1105.004;
	(2)  a financial report of the previous fiscal year,
	including reports on the financial condition and results of
	operations;
	(3)  a description of all changes in fees imposed on
	regulated persons;
	(4)  a report on changes in the regulatory jurisdiction
	of the agency; and
	(5)  a list of all new rules adopted or repealed.
	(c)  In addition to the reporting requirements of Subsection
	(b), not later than November 1 of each year, the agency shall submit
	to the governor, the committee of each house of the legislature that
	has jurisdiction over appropriations, and the Legislative Budget
	Board a report that contains:
	(1)  the salary for all agency personnel and the total
	amount of per diem expenses and travel expenses paid for all agency
	employees;
	(2)  the total amount of per diem expenses and travel
	expenses paid for each member of the agency;
	(3)  the agency's operating plan and the annual budgets
	of the commission and the board; and
	(4)  a detailed report of all revenue received and all
	expenses incurred by the agency in the previous 12 months.
	Sec. 1105.006.  ABILITY TO CONTRACT. (a)  To carry out and
	promote the objectives of this chapter, the commission or board may
	enter into contracts and do all other acts incidental to those
	contracts that are necessary for the administration of the
	commission's or board's respective affairs and for the attainment
	of the commission's or board's respective purposes, except as
	limited by Subsection (b).
	(b)  Any indebtedness, liability, or obligation of the
	commission or board incurred under this section may not:
	(1)  create a debt or other liability of this state or
	another entity other than the commission or board, as appropriate;
	or
	(2)  create any personal liability on the part of the
	members or employees of the agency.
	Sec. 1105.007.  PROPERTY. The commission or board may:
	(1)  acquire by purchase, lease, gift, or any other
	manner provided by law and maintain, use, and operate any real,
	personal, or mixed property, or any interest in property, necessary
	or convenient to the exercise of the respective powers, rights,
	privileges, or functions of the commission or board;
	(2)  sell or otherwise dispose of any real, personal,
	or mixed property, or any interest in property, that the commission
	or board, as appropriate, determines is not necessary or convenient
	to the exercise of the commission's or board's respective powers,
	rights, privileges, or functions;
	(3)  construct, extend, improve, maintain, and
	reconstruct, or cause to construct, extend, improve, maintain, and
	reconstruct, and use and operate all facilities necessary or
	convenient to the exercise of the respective powers, rights,
	privileges, or functions of the commission or board; and
	(4)  borrow money, as may be authorized from time to
	time by an affirmative vote of a two-thirds majority of the
	commission or board, as appropriate, for a period not to exceed five
	years if necessary or convenient to the exercise of the
	commission's or board's respective powers, rights, privileges, or
	functions.
	Sec. 1105.008.  SUITS. (a)  The office of the attorney
	general shall represent the agency in any litigation.
	(b)  Not later than August 31 of each fiscal year, the agency
	shall remit a nonrefundable retainer to the office of the attorney
	general in an amount of not less than $75,000.  The nonrefundable
	retainer shall be applied to any services provided to the agency.
	If additional litigation services are required, the attorney
	general may assess and collect from the agency reasonable
	attorney's fees, in excess of the aggregate nonrefundable retainer
	amount paid each fiscal year, associated with any litigation under
	this section.
	Sec. 1105.009.  ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS. (a)  Not later
	than August 31 of each fiscal year, the agency shall remit a
	nonrefundable retainer to the State Office of Administrative
	Hearings in an amount of not less than $75,000 for hearings
	conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings under a
	law administered by the commission or the board.
	(b)  The nonrefundable retainer shall be applied to the costs
	associated with conducting the hearings.  If additional costs are
	incurred, the State Office of Administrative Hearings may assess
	and collect from the agency reasonable fees, in excess of the
	nonrefundable retainer amount paid each fiscal year, associated
	with conducting the hearings.
	Sec. 1105.010.  POST-PARTICIPATION LIABILITY. (a)  If the
	agency no longer has status under this chapter as a self-directed
	semi-independent agency for any reason, the agency shall be liable
	for any expenses or debts incurred by the agency during the time the
	agency was a self-directed semi-independent agency. The agency's
	liability under this section includes liability for any lease
	entered into by the agency. This state is not liable for any
	expense or debt covered by this subsection, and money from the
	general revenue fund may not be used to repay the expense or debt.
	(b)  If the agency no longer has status under this chapter as
	a self-directed semi-independent agency for any reason, ownership
	of any property or other asset acquired by the agency during the
	time the agency was a self-directed semi-independent agency,
	including unexpended fees in a deposit account in the Texas
	Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company, shall be transferred to this
	state.
	Sec. 1105.011.  DUE PROCESS; OPEN GOVERNMENT. The
	commission and the board are governmental bodies for purposes of
	Chapters 551 and 552, Government Code.  The commission is a state
	agency for purposes of Chapters 2001 and 2005, Government Code.
	Sec. 1105.012.  MEMBERSHIP IN EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
	Employees of the agency are members of the Employees Retirement
	System of Texas under Chapter 812, Government Code, and the
	commission's and the board's transition to independent status as
	provided by this chapter has no effect on their membership or any
	benefits under that system.
	SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 1101.059, Occupations
	Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(c)  A person appointed to the commission is entitled to
	reimbursement[, as provided by the General Appropriations Act,] for
	the travel expenses incurred in attending the training program
	regardless of whether the attendance at the program occurs before
	or after the person qualifies for office.
	SECTION 3.  Subsection (d), Section 1101.101, Occupations
	Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(d)  The commission shall determine the salaries of the
	administrator, officers, and employees of the commission. [The
	amounts of the salaries may not exceed the amounts specified by the
	General Appropriations Act.]
	SECTION 4.  Subsection (b), Section 1103.103, Occupations
	Code, is repealed.
	SECTION 5.  (a)  To provide a reasonable period for the
	Texas Real Estate Commission to establish itself as a self-directed
	and semi-independent agency under Chapter 1105, Occupations Code,
	as added by this Act, the following amounts are appropriated out of
	the general revenue fund:
	(1)  for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2012,
	an amount equal to 50 percent of the amount of general revenue
	appropriated to the agency for the state fiscal year ending August
	31, 2011; and
	(2)  for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2013,
	an amount equal to 50 percent of the amount of general revenue
	appropriated to the agency for the state fiscal year ending August
	31, 2011.
	(b)  Subject to Chapter 1105, Occupations Code, as added by
	this Act, the appropriations made by Subsection (a) of this section
	may be spent by the Texas Real Estate Commission as the commission
	directs.  The Texas Real Estate Commission shall repay to the
	general revenue fund the appropriation made to the commission for
	the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2012, not later than that
	date and as funds become available.  The Texas Real Estate
	Commission shall repay to the general revenue fund the
	appropriation made to the commission for the state fiscal year
	ending August 31, 2013, not later than that date and as funds become
	available.
	SECTION 6.  The transfer of the Texas Real Estate Commission
	to self-directed and semi-independent status under Chapter 1105,
	Occupations Code, as added by this Act, and the expiration of
	self-directed and semi-independent status may not act to cancel,
	suspend, or prevent:
	(1)  any debt owed to or by the commission or the Texas
	Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board;
	(2)  any fine, tax, penalty, or obligation of any
	party;
	(3)  any contract or other obligation of any party; or
	(4)  any action taken by the commission or the board in
	the administration or enforcement of the commission's or the
	board's duties.
	SECTION 7.  The Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas
	Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board shall continue to have
	and exercise the powers and duties allocated to the commission or
	the board in the commission's or the board's enabling legislation,
	except as specifically amended by this Act.
	SECTION 8.  Title to or ownership of all supplies,
	materials, records, equipment, books, papers, and furniture used by
	the Texas Real Estate Commission or the Texas Appraiser Licensing
	and Certification Board is transferred to the commission or the
	board, respectively. This Act does not affect any property owned by
	the commission or the board on or before the effective date of this
	Act.
	SECTION 9.  The Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas
	Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board shall relocate to
	state-owned office space not later than September 1, 2011, and
	shall pay rent to this state in a reasonable amount to be determined
	by the Texas Facilities Commission for the use and occupancy of the
	office space.  Aggregate rental payments may not be less than
	$550,000 per fiscal year for the state fiscal years ending August
	31, 2012, and August 31, 2013.  Aggregate rental payments may not be
	less than $425,000 per fiscal year for each state fiscal year ending
	August 31, 2014, August 31, 2015, and August 31, 2016.
	SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1000 passed the Senate on
	April 20, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
	the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2011, by the
	following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0; passed subject to the provisions
	of Article III, Section 49a, of the Constitution of Texas.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1000 passed the House, with
	amendment, on May 23, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 147,
	Nays 0, two present not voting; passed subject to the provisions of
	Article III, Section 49a, of the Constitution of Texas.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	I, Susan Combs, Comptroller of
	Public Accounts, do hereby
	______________________________    certify that the amounts
	Governor                appropriated in the herein
	S.B. No. 1000, Regular Session,
	82nd Legislature, are within the
	amount estimated to be available
	in the affected fund.
	Certified ______________, 2011.
	______________________________
	Comptroller of Public Accounts