HBA-DMD H.B. 1611 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1611 By: McCall Human Services 3/9/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities (committee) was established in 1949 as the Governor's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped to focus on promoting employment and public awareness of persons with disabilities. In 1991, the committee, which was given its current title in 1983, was relocated from the Texas Rehabilitation Commission to the Office of the Governor and its focus was expanded. Currently, the committee promotes the development and coordination of statewide public and private policies concerning persons with disabilities, oversees and updates the long-range plan for Texans with disabilities, promotes a demographic survey of persons with disabilities, and promotes the compilation of laws related to persons with disabilities. H.B. 1611 continues the committee until September 1, 2011 and establishes the committee's mission. The bill provides training for committee members and specifies situations in which a person is prohibited from being appointed a member of the committee or acting as the general counsel. The bill also establishes grounds for removal from the committee, provides for public hearings to be held by the committee, sets standards of conduct for members of the committee, and requires the committee to maintain records of the complaints it receives. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 115.001, Human Resources Code, as follows: Sec. 115.001. New Title: COMMITTEE; MISSION. Establishes that the mission of the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities (committee) is to further opportunities for persons with disabilities in order for persons with disabilities to enjoy full and equal access to lives of independence, productivity, and self-determination. SECTION 2. Amends Section 115.002, Human Resources Code, by adding Subsection (d), as follows: (d) Requires that appointments to the committee be made without regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or national origin of the appointees, except as provided by Subsection (b). Subsection (b) provides that at least seven of the members must be persons with disabilities. SECTION 3. Amends Sections 115.004(a) and (b), Human Resources Code, to rename the chair of the committee as the presiding officer of the committee. Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. SECTION 4. Amends Sections 115.005 and 115.009, Human Resources Code, as follows: Sec. 115.005. SUNSET PROVISION. Continues the committee until September 1, 2011, rather than September 1, 1999, under Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Sec. 115.009. FUNCTIONS. (1) Requires the committee to serve as a central source of information and education on the abilities, rights, problems, and needs of persons with disabilities, and as necessary, issue reports. Deletes the committee's requirement to coordinate and monitor the state's compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Pub. L. No. 101-336) and other federal and state statutes relating to the rights and opportunities for persons with disabilities. (2) Requires the committee to provide information to and advise the governor and the governor's staff on matters relating to the full participation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of life. Deletes the committee's requirement to provide technical assistance to public and private agencies and businesses in order to promote and facilitate implementation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and other federal and state statutes relating to rights and opportunities of persons with disabilities. (3) Requires the committee to submit a report to the governor and to the legislature before the end of each even-numbered year, rather than by December 31 of each year to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives, that includes the status of the state's compliance with federal and state laws pertaining to rights and opportunities for persons with disabilities and recommendations to achieve further compliance and, if necessary, the status of a long-range state plan for persons with disabilities and recommendations to implement that plan, along with any recommended changes in state laws relating to persons with disabilities, rather than where noncompliance exists. Makes a nonsubstantive change. (4) Requires the committee to serve as the state's liaison agency in working with the President's Committee on Employment of Persons with Disabilities and other entities involved in activities or concerns affecting, rather than public or private associations or groups promoting or providing services for, persons with disabilities. (5) Makes no change. (6) Requires the committee to evaluate the state's compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and other federal and state statutes relating to rights and opportunities for persons with disabilities, rather than to promote the development of efficient and effective coordination of services for persons with disabilities. (7) Requires the committee to provide information and technical assistance to public and private agencies and businesses to promote and facilitate implementation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and other federal and state statutes relating to rights and opportunities of persons with disabilities. Deletes the committee's requirement to make recommendations to the governor on programs, policies, and funding that promote independence for persons with disabilities. (8) Requires the committee to collect and evaluate, rather than monitor, data on employment of persons with disabilities by state agencies. (9) Makes no change. (10) Redesignates a portion of existing Subdivision (11) to Subdivision (10). Makes conforming changes. (11) Deletes text requiring the committee to promote a demographic survey for accurately identifying persons with disabilities and the effective use of the survey results in establishing service priorities. Redesignates existing Subdivision (13) to Subdivision (11). SECTION 5. Amends Chapter 115, Human Resources Code, by adding Sections 115.0021, 115.0022, 115.0023, 115.0041, 115.0042, 115.0061, and 115.011, as follows: Sec. 115.0021. CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Prohibits a person from being a member of the committee or acting as the general counsel to the committee if the person is required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 (Registration of Lobbyists), Government Code, because of the person's activities for compensation on behalf of a profession related to the operation of the committee. Sec. 115.0022. TRAINING FOR COMMITTEE MEMBERS. (a) Prohibits a person who is appointed to and qualifies for office as a member of the committee from voting, deliberating, or being counted as a member in attendance at a meeting of the committee until the person completes a training program that complies with this section. (b) Provides that the training program must provide the person with information regarding: (1) the legislation that created the committee; (2) the programs operated by the committee; (3) the role and functions of the committee; (4) any relevant rules of the committee; (5) the current budget for the committee; (6) the results of the most recent formal audit of the committee; (7) the requirements of the open meetings law, the public information law, the administrative procedure law, (Chapters 551, 552, and 2001, respectively) Government Code, and other laws relating to public officials, including conflict of interest laws; and (8) any applicable ethics policies adopted by the committee or the Texas Ethics Commission. (c) Entitles a person who is appointed to the committee 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. Sec. 115.0023. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. (a) Establishes that it is a ground for removal from the committee when a member is ineligible for membership under Section 115.0021, cannot discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the member's term, or is absent from more than half of the regularly scheduled committee meetings that the member is eligible to attend during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote of the committee. (b) Establishes that the validity of an action of the committee is not affected by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of a committee member exists. (c) Requires the executive director of the committee (executive director), if the executive director has knowledge that a potential ground for removal exists, to notify the presiding officer of the committee, who is then required to notify the governor and the attorney general that a potential ground for removal exists. Requires the executive director, if the potential ground for removal involves the presiding officer, to notify the next highest ranking officer of the committee, who is then required to notify the governor and the attorney general that a potential ground for removal exists. Sec. 115.0041. DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITY. Requires the committee to develop and implement policies that clearly separate the policymaking responsibilities of the committee and the management responsibilities of the executive director and staff of the committee. Sec. 115.0042. PUBLIC HEARINGS. Requires the committee to develop and implement policies that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to appear before the committee and to speak on any issue under the jurisdiction of the committee. Sec. 115.0061. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT. Requires the executive director or the executive director's designee to provide to members of the committee and to committee employees, as often as necessary, information regarding the requirements for office or employment under this chapter, including information regarding a person's responsibilities under applicable laws relating to standards of conduct for state officers or employees. Sec. 115.011. COMPLAINTS. (a) Requires the committee to maintain a file on each written complaint filed with the committee that must include the name of the person who filed the complaint, the date the complaint is received by the committee, the subject matter of the complaint, the name of each person contacted in relation to the complaint, a summary of the results of the review of the complaint, and an explanation of the reason the file was closed if the committee closed the file without taking action other than to review the complaint. (b) Requires the committee, until final disposition of the complaint, to notify the person filing the complaint and each person who is a subject of the complaint of the status of the review of the complaint. SECTION 6.Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of this Act prospective to a committee member appointed on or after the effective date. Does not prohibit reappointment if a person who is a committee member on the effective date meets the membership qualifications under Chapter 115 (Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities), Government Code. SECTION 7.Emergency clause.