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11 Document(s) [ Subject: Public Information Act, Texas ]

Committee:	House Government Transparency and Operation
Title:	Interim Report
Subjects:	Emergency management | Hurricane Harvey | Natural disasters | Open government | Public Information Act, Texas | State agencies | State government contracts | State purchasing |
Library Call Number:	L1836.85 G747t
Session:	85th R.S. (2017)
Online version:	View report [86 pages]
Charges:	This report should address the charges below.
1.	Examine the role of technology in disaster preparedness and the response to Hurricane Harvey and future natural disasters. Review and make recommendations to drive innovation and efficiency and evaluate whether there are any regulatory impediments to collaboration between the public and private sectors.
2.	Evaluate whether qualifying state agencies are appropriately utilizing available state disaster recovery services, including the statewide technology centers. Consider the costs and benefits of allowing other states to participate in Texas' statewide technology centers under Subchapter L, Chapter 2054, Texas Government Code for disaster recovery purposes.
3.	Review Texas’ open meeting laws and related government decision-making policies. Determine if the formal processes prevented the efficient delivery of assistance during Hurricane Harvey. Make recommendations on maintaining the current standards of accountability without limiting government-provided aid during disaster events.
4.	Evaluate whether, in light of recent Texas Supreme Court rulings, the provisions of the Public Information Act are adequate to support transparency and accountability in government, particularly as it relates to government contracting and procurement.
5.	Study how state agencies can share knowledge and practices, reduce duplicative data gathering, and conduct business in a more efficient manner through interagency data sharing. Review best practices to provide the public with more transparency and access to government information.
6.	Monitor the agencies and programs under the Committee’s jurisdiction and oversee the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 85th Legislature. In conducting this oversight, the committee will also specifically monitor the implementation of H.B. 8 (85R).
Supporting documents
Committee:	House Government Transparency and Operation
Title:	Committee meeting handouts and testimony, March 27, 2018 (Public Information Act, cybersecurity, data sharing, disaster recovery)
Library Call Number:
Session:	85th R.S. (2017)
Online version:	View document [95 pages  File size: 7,933 kb]
Committee:	House Government Transparency and Operation
Title:	Interim Report
Subjects:	Computer networks | Computers and government | Criminal records | Data centers | Electronic security | Law enforcement | Public information | Public Information Act, Texas | State agencies | State purchasing | Video cameras and recordings |
Library Call Number:	L1836.84 G747T
Session:	84th R.S. (2015)
Online version:	View report [76 pages]
Charges:	This report should address the charges below.
1.	Identify and address potential gaps in the state's cybersecurity policies and ensure that personal information held by state agencies is secure. Address whether industry-accepted cybersecurity standards have been met by state agencies and state data centers and determine ways to promote a culture of cybersecurity awareness among users of state information resources.
2.	Examine purchasing practices by state agencies to ensure such practices are efficient and transparent.
3.	Study issues related to access to public information held outside of the custody or control of the governmental body by current or former officers or employees. Assess whether the Public Information Act's procedures for response to repetitious or redundant public information requests adequately protect small governmental bodies from the financial burdens imposed by such requests.
4.	Study the use of commercial cloud computing by state agencies and institutions of higher education, including efficiencies surrounding a utility-based model, security impacts of transitioning to cloud computing, and cost-savings achieved by the utilization of commercial cloud computing services.
5.	Review the process of dissemination by public entities of criminal records containing incomplete or inaccurate information, assess options for the subjects of such records to correct the misinformation specifically as it interferes with their ability to obtain employment, and determine the need for greater regulations over this process. (Joint charge with the House Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety)
6.	Study the impact of emerging technologies used by law enforcement and issues related to appropriate dissemination of the data provided by those technologies, including the impact of technologies on the operation of law enforcement agencies, the operation of the Public Information Act, and any appropriate safeguards for citizens and law enforcement officers who interact with those technologies or whose data is recorded. (Joint charge with the House Select Committee on Emerging Issues in Texas Law Enforcement)
7.	Conduct legislative oversight and monitoring of the agencies and programs under the committee’s jurisdiction and the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 84th Legislature. In conducting this oversight, the committee should: a. consider any reforms to state agencies to make them more responsive to Texas taxpayers and citizens; b. identify issues regarding the agency or its governance that may be appropriate to investigate, improve, remedy, or eliminate; c. determine whether an agency is operating in a transparent and efficient manner; and d. identify opportunities to streamline programs and services while maintaining the mission of the agency and its programs.
Committee:	House Government Efficiency and Reform
Title:	Interim Report
Subjects:	Attorney General Open Records Division | Cellular telephones | e-government | Health and Human Services Commission, Texas | Information Resources, Texas Department of | Library & Archives Commission, Texas State | Open government | Public information | Public Information Act, Texas | State agencies | State purchasing | Transportation planning | Transportation, Texas Department of | Water planning | Workforce Commission, Texas |
Library Call Number:	L1836.83 G747r
Session:	83rd R.S. (2013)
Online version:	View report [36 pages]
Charges:	This report should address the charges below.
1.	Examine current restrictions on state and local governmental entities relating to the construction of critical infrastructure, including transportation and water projects, and make recommendations for expediting and creating more cost-effective and efficient methods for the construction of such projects.
2.	Study the current laws, rules, and processes in place for the Department of Information Resources's Cooperative Contracts and recommend improvements to the 84th Legislature. (Joint charge with the House Committee on Technology)
3.	Review the application of the Public Information Act to requests for large amounts of electronic data. Examine whether the procedures and deadlines imposed by the Act give governmental bodies enough time to identify and protect confidential information in such requests.
4.	Examine the public's accessibility to government services and agencies through the use of mobile applications and online services. (Joint charge with the House Committee on Technology)
5.	Study the benefits of utilizing a Chief Innovation Officer for Texas and its agencies.
6.	Study the feasibility of having all state agencies use the Texas Workforce Commission's "Work in Texas" website for a more standardized applications process. Determine the interest of municipal, county, and other jurisdictions in boosting their utilization of the website.
7.	Conduct legislative oversight and monitoring of the agencies and programs under the committee’s jurisdiction and the implementation of relevant legislation passed by the 83rd Legislature. In conducting this oversight, the committee should: a. consider any reforms to state agencies to make them more responsive to Texas taxpayers and citizens; b. identify issues regarding the agency or its governance that may be appropriate to investigate, improve, remedy, or eliminate; c. determine whether an agency is operating in a transparent and efficient manner; and d. identify opportunities to streamline programs and services while maintaining the mission of the agency and its programs.
Committee:	Senate Open Government, Select
Title:	Interim Report
Subjects:	Attorney General opinions | Electronic security | Email | Historical records | Open records requests and decisions | Public Information Act, Texas | Records management |
Library Call Number:	L1836.82 Op2
Session:	82nd R.S. (2011)
Online version:	View report [22 pages]
Charges:	This report should address the charges below.
1.	Evaluate the need for revisions to the Public Information Act to address changes in the performance of public functions and make recommendations for changes. Specifically, consider the following: the use of new technologies and future technological advances as relates to the creation of public information; the extent to which the Public Information Act impacts third-party contractors with state and local government; the need to codify or clarify existing Attorney General opinions.
2.	Examine the effectiveness of security measures used to protect electronic information held by state agencies and make recommendations for enhancing security, if needed.
3.	Review record retention policies for state and local governments and make recommendations for improvements to record retention schedules and policies, including e-­mail retention and archiving requirements. Consider the benefits and disadvantages of creating a uniform record retention policy.
4.	Study ways to define and address frivolous and/or overly-burdensome open records requests. Include an analysis of appropriate cost recovery by governmental entities for expenses and time related to responding to requests, while ensuring the public has adequate access to public information.
Committee:	Senate State Affairs
Title:	Interim Report
Library Catalog Title:	Interim report to the 82nd Legislature
Subjects:	Employees Retirement System of Texas | Financial investments | Fraud | Health care | Health care costs | Health insurance | Hospitals | Insurance agents | Insurance rates | Medically uninsured | Military personnel | Open government | Open Meetings Act, Texas | Public Information Act, Texas | Senior citizens | Teacher Retirement System of Texas | Voter registration | Voters | Voting by mail | Voting systems | Workers' compensation |
Library Call Number:	L1836.81 ST29a
Session:	81st R.S. (2009)
Online version:	View report [248 pages  File size: 24,817 kb]
Charges:	This report should address the charges below.
1.	Upon passage of federal legislation relating to reform of the health care industry and health insurance industry, study the implications of such legislation on Texas, the health care industry, and public and private insurance. Study and monitor the implementation of the insurance regulatory changes, changes to high risk pool, and any other insurance mandates. Study the health care policy changes and the impact to the Medicaid and CHIP programs and the state budget. Assess the impact to all state uninsured and uncompensated care programs and county programs for the uninsured, including county property tax programs to pay for the uninsured. Make recommendations for the efficient implementation of programs. (Joint charge with Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
2.	Monitor the actuarial and financial conditions of the pension and health care programs administered by the Teacher Retirement System and the Employees Retirement System. Assess the effectiveness of pilot programs designed to encourage the use of clinical integration, payments for good outcomes, use of best practices, focus on wellness and prevention, and bundling of costs for episodes of care, and other health care savings initiatives. Make recommendations for expanding the pilot programs for use across all private and state sponsored health care, including the Medicaid program, as a means to improve Texans' health and provide more effective care that allows for assistance for the uninsured. (SB 7, SB 8 and SB 10, 81st Legislature)
3.	Study the implementation of the Healthy Texas program enacted by the 81st Legislature and the ongoing implementation of SB 1731, 80th Legislature, to determine if this program is effectively lowering health insurance costs and increasing access to health insurance for small business. Study and make recommendations about using this program to increase access to health insurance for sole proprietors. Review other states efforts to lower health care costs to small business owners and sole proprietors and incentivize small business owners and sole proprietors to purchase insurance.
4.	Examine best practices for increasing the affordability and availability of health insurance in the individual and small group market, including medical underwriting practices, rescission of coverage, cancellation of coverage, rate regulation, and reporting of medical loss ratios.
5.	Study how increased out-of-pocket costs for medications and treatment impact consumers' compliance with health care recommendations and how that response impacts overall health care costs. Review available research into value design programs.
6.	Study ways to improve the efficiency and accuracy of voter registration rolls, including the feasibility and security of online registration and automatic registration and the accuracy of verification and purging of voters. Recommend ways to ensure that deceased or otherwise ineligible voters are not included on rolls while also ensuring that all eligible applicants are efficiently registered.
7.	Study the transparency of organizational structures, policies and coverage associated with health insurance underwriters/agents and the relationship between underwriters/agents and policyholders.
8.	Study the sale of annuities in Texas, particularly to seniors. Evaluate the requirements relating to rescission of an annuity contract, payment of surrender fees, return of money, contract forms, including a standard contract form, buyer's guide, agent's commission and disclosure of an agent's commission. Make recommendations for legislation, if needed, and consider whether the insurance commissioner by rule may limit an agent's commission.
9.	Study the effect Texas hospital billing and collection practices have on the uninsured's and under-insured's access to hospital health care services, on the uninsured's and under­insured's economic circumstances, and on medical debt recorded as bad debt on hospital books and records. Assess whether hospital billing disparities involving pricing discounts between the uninsured and insured exist and make recommendations for any changes necessary.
10.	Study the adequacy of workers' compensation benefits in the following categories: lifetime income benefits, wage benefits for the high wage earner, and workers whose wage benefits stop before Social Security benefits begin. In order to determine the impact of increased benefits in one or more of these categories, work with the Texas Department of Insurance to develop a publicly accessible model to predict the costs related to those enhanced benefits, the effect of those costs on workers' compensation premiums, and whether enrollment in the workers' compensation system will be adversely impacted by increasing the benefits in one or more of the stated categories.
11.	Study whether subrogation claims by writers of workers' compensation policies should be limited or prohibited. Study the effect on workers' compensation premiums, if any, if subrogation claims by writers of workers' compensation policies are limited or prohibited. Consider the feasibility of developing a publicly accessible model to predict the impact on workers' compensation premiums, if any, if subrogation claims by writers of workers' compensation policies are limited or prohibited, while protecting confidentiality as required by law and study whether the impact on workers' compensation premiums, if any, would adversely impact enrollment in the workers' compensation system.
12.	Study and make recommendations regarding access to voting by members of the military serving in the United States and abroad, including the feasibility of electronic delivery of ballots.
13.	Study the Public Information Act and the Open Meetings Act to ensure that government continues to operate in a way that is open and transparent. The study should consider how advances in technology and the emergence of various forms of social media (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter) have affected communications by and within governmental bodies.
14.	Monitor the implementation of legislation addressed by the Senate Committee on State Affairs, 81 st Legislature, Regular and Called Sessions, and make recommendations for any legislation needed to improve, enhance, and/or complete implementation.
Committee:	House Civil Practices
Title:	Interim Report
Library Catalog Title:	House Committee on Civil Practices, Texas House of Representatives interim report, 2002 : a report to the House of Representatives, 78th Texas Legislature.
Subjects:	Alternative dispute resolution | Consumer protection | Homeland security | Judicial interpretation of legislation | Liability | National security | Open records requests and decisions | Public information | Public Information Act, Texas | Rules of evidence | Statutory revision | Supreme Court, Texas | Terrorism |
Library Call Number:	L1836.77 c498
Session:	77th R.S. (2001)
Online version:	View report [162 pages  File size: 7,486 kb]
Charges:	This report should address the charges below.
1.	Examine practices by courts and attorneys in product liability cases that may be detrimental to public health and safety. The review should include the sealing of records that might assist the public in assessing the dangers of using a product, agreements not to disclose information to the public or regulatory agencies, and any other rules, practices or laws deemed relevant by the committee.
2.	Examine changes over the last decade to the civil justice system that affect the right of litigants (citizens or businesses) to receive appropriate review by a judicial body, including arbitration, mediation, other types of alternative dispute resolution.
3.	Review changes in federal laws and law enforcement procedures, as well as recommendations from state and national agencies charged with homeland protection, to assess the need for changes in state civil laws to protect life and property and to detect, interdict and respond to acts of terrorism.
4.	Review recent decisions of Texas appellate courts and identify those decisions that: (1) clearly failed to properly implement legislative purposes, (2) found two or more statutes to be in conflict, (3) held a statute to be unconstitutional, (4) expressly found a statute to be ambiguous, or (5) expressly suggested legislative action.
5.	Monitor the rule-making proceedings of the Texas Supreme Court.
Committee:	Senate Economic Development, Interim
Title:	Interim report - Telecommunications and insurance
Library Catalog Title:	Report on telecommunications and insurance.
Subjects:	Homeowners insurance | Insurance industry | Insurance, Texas Department of | Liability | Long distance telephone service | Managed care | Open records requests and decisions | Patients' rights | Public Information Act, Texas | Public Utility Commission of Texas | Public Utility Regulatory Act | Racial discrimination | Telecommunications infrastructure | Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund | Telephone deregulation | Telephone service |
Library Call Number:	L1836.75 ec74t
Session:	75th R.S. (1997)
Online version:	View report [308 pages  File size: 12,707 kb]
Charges:	This report should address the charges below.
1.	Study the effect of property insurance form deregulation, as addressed in SB 1499, 75th R.S., passed by the Legislature during the 1997 regular session, on the affordability and availability of homeowners insurance.
2.	Monitor the implementation of SB 386, 75th R.S., passed by the Legislature during the 1997 regular session, regarding managed care liability, including the development of the rules and standards governing the certification, selection, and operation of independent review organizations.
3.	Study and assess the effectiveness of HB 2128, 74th R.S., passed by the Legislature during the 1995 regular session, including but not limited to: the deployment of an advanced telecommunications infrastructure in Texas; the development of competition in the local telecommunications market in Texas; and the use of the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund in improving the capabilities of Texas schools, libraries and public hospitals. In its evaluation, the Committee should identify any remaining barriers to the development of full competition in the telecommunications market in Texas and make recommendations, if necessary, for any legislative or regulatory action.
4.	Review the process used by the Texas Department of Insurance and the Attorney General in making determinations regarding public disclosure of insurance data and, if necessary, make recommendations to streamline and standardize the process.
5.	Review and make recommendations, if needed, to clarify what insurance market-related data should be in the public domain and what information should be considered proprietary data to preserve competition. This review should consider both statistical data and underwriting guidelines.
Committee:	Senate Public Information, Interim
Title:	Interim report
Library Catalog Title:	Interim report to the 76th Legislature.
Subjects:	Open government | Open records requests and decisions | Privacy | Public Information Act, Texas |
Library Call Number:	L1836.75 p96
Session:	75th R.S. (1997)
Online version:	View report [215 pages  File size: 10,203 kb]
Charges:	This report should address the charges below.
1.	Identify areas of concern associated with the Public Information Act, (formerly known as the Open Records Act), including harassment, commercial enterprise, circumvention of the Act's requirements, delays in production of information, access and availability of information, costs and expenditure of public resources. If necessary, make recommendations for legislative action.
2.	Study the impact of the Public Information Act on privacy interests of Texans and monitor the implementation of SB 1069, 75th R.S., passed by the Legislature during the 1997 regular session, and developments in federal law regarding these issues.
3.	Review the role of technology as it applies to the Public Information Act, such as the Internet, and study pertinent issues in the public information process, including but not limited to whether HB 1718, 74th R.S., passed by the Legislature during the 1995 regular session, adequately responds to technological advances.
Committee:	House State Affairs
Title:	Interim report
Library Catalog Title:	Committee on State Affairs, Texas House of Representatives interim report, 1994 : a report to the House of Representatives, 74th Texas Legislature.
Subjects:	Consumer credit and debt | Consumer protection | Databases | Internet | Open government | Open records requests and decisions | Public information | Public Information Act, Texas | Public Utility Commission of Texas | Public Utility Regulatory Act | Rental companies | Sale-leaseback agreements | State agency mandated reports | Websites |
Library Call Number:	L1836.73 st29
Session:	73rd R.S. (1993)
Online version:	View report [103 pages  File size: 3,584 kb]
Charges:	This report should address the charges below.
1.	Conduct active oversight of agencies under the committee's jurisdiction, including a study of mandated reports to the legislature and legislative agencies. The study should consist of a review of the legislative reporting requirements of all agencies to identify areas where reporting obligations could be streamlined and agency accountability improved. The committee shall make specific recommendations about the continuation, modification or elimination of required legislative reports.
2.	Consider revisions to the Open Records Act to clarify its meaning and utility in light of the number of information files now maintained on computers.
3.	Study the feasibility of a consolidated Texas state government database to improve electronic access to legislative information, information maintained by state agencies, the Texas Register and other information of public interest and importance.
4.	Examine the laws related to consumer finance and installment purchases to determine whether changes in the laws, their interpretation or enforcement are necessary to protect the public interest.
5.	Evaluate the public benefits of requiring the Public Utilities Commission to grant incentive rates of return to electric and telecommunications utilities that exceed certain efficiency thresholds, and to levy a rate of return penalty on utilities that fail to achieve established efficiency standards.
Supporting documents
Committee:	Senate Jurisprudence
Title:	SR 720
Library Call Number:	SR 720
Session:	67th R.S. (1981)
Online version:	View document [3 pages  File size: 1,082 kb]

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