HBA-LJP H.B. 2946 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2946 By: Capelo State Affairs 3/21/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Texas state agencies with fewer than 100 employees face unique problems in carrying out required administrative support functions such as accounting, budgeting, purchasing, and human resource administration. These small agencies often have to perform the same complex administrative tasks as large agencies, but with fewer resources and people. Current law requires all state agencies to submit as many as 25 administrative reports per year to oversight bodies and service agencies. Allowing small state agencies to contract out for these type of duties may assist the agency in carrying out its administrative functions more efficiently. House Bill 2946 provides for a small state agency's acquisition of services through group contracts or interagency agreements. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 2946 amends the Government Code to require the State Council on Competitive Government (council) to review the administration functions of small state agencies to determine the cost-effectiveness of acquiring these services through a group contract or an interagency agreement. If the council determines that a service may be acquired in a more cost-effective manner through a group contract or an interagency agreement, the bill requires the council to prescribe the specifications and conditions of a small state agency's acquisition of a service through a group contract or an interagency agreement. The bill also requires the council, in performing its duties, to examine alternatives in the private sector and among other state agencies, solicit advice and cooperation from the Small State Agency Task Force, and include in its review certain small state agencies and from those agencies, designate a small state agency to lead the coordination of the review. The bill creates an interagency task force (task force) to provide advice on the simplification of small state agency reporting procedures. The task force is required to report before November 1 in each evennumbered year, to the governor, the legislature, and the comptroller on statutory changes required to implement the recommendations of the task force. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.