Bill Text: TX HB2493 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the self-directed and semi-independent status of the State Securities Board; authorizing fees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-05-25 - Placed on intent calendar [HB2493 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB2493-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to the self-directed and semi-independent status of the State Securities Board; authorizing fees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-05-25 - Placed on intent calendar [HB2493 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB2493-Introduced.html
By: Parker | H.B. No. 2493 |
|
||
|
||
relating to self-directed and semi-independent status of the State | ||
Securities Board. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1.1. The Securities Act (Article 581-1 et seq., Vernon's | ||
Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding Sections 44, 45, 46, 47, | ||
48, 49, 50, 51, and 52 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 44. SELF-DIRECTED AND SEMI-INDEPENDENT STATUS. | ||
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State | ||
Securities Board is self-directed and semi-independent as | ||
specified by The Securities Act. Any Act of the 84th Legislature | ||
that relates to the agency and that is inconsistent with the agency | ||
being self-directed and semi-independent may be implemented by the | ||
Commissioner only on authorization by the Board. | ||
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this Act, the State | ||
Securities Board is subject to a provision of law that applies to | ||
state agencies, including: | ||
(1) state purchasing requirements under Subtitle D, | ||
Title 10, Government Code; | ||
(2) interagency transfer voucher requirements under | ||
Section 2155.327, Government Code; | ||
(3) travel requirements under chapters 2171 and 2205, | ||
Government Code, using amounts provided by the General | ||
Appropriations Act to guide travel reimbursement rates; and | ||
(4) prompt payment requirements under chapter 2251, | ||
Government Code. | ||
Sec. 45. BUDGET, REVENUES, AND EXPENSES. | ||
(a) The Commissioner shall submit to the Board a budget | ||
annually using generally accepted accounting principles. | ||
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including the General | ||
Appropriations Act, the budget shall be adopted and approved only | ||
by the Board. | ||
(b) The State Securities Board shall be responsible for all | ||
direct and indirect costs of the agency's existence and operation. | ||
The agency may not directly or indirectly cause the general revenue | ||
fund to incur any cost. | ||
(c) Subject to any limitations in this Act, the Board may | ||
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 functions of the agency and funding | ||
the budget adopted and approved under Subsection (a). | ||
(d) Periodically, the Commissioner shall submit to the | ||
Board, as directed by the Board, a report of the receipts and | ||
expenditures of the agency. | ||
(e) The fiscal year for the agency begins on September 1 and | ||
ends on August 31. | ||
(f) All fees and funds collected by the agency under Section | ||
35.A and any funds appropriated to the agency shall be deposited in | ||
interest-bearing deposit accounts in the Texas Treasury | ||
Safekeeping Trust Company to be used exclusively to pay costs | ||
incurred by the State Securities Board in administering The | ||
Securities Act. The comptroller shall contract with the agency for | ||
the maintenance of the deposit accounts under terms comparable to a | ||
contract between a commercial banking institution and the | ||
institution's customers. The agency may not hold funds in an | ||
account that is not under the control of the comptroller. | ||
(g) Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, | ||
all other monies collected by the State Securities Board and any | ||
other funds belonging to or under the control of the State | ||
Securities Board shall be deposited into the General Revenue Fund. | ||
(h) If the Commissioner or Board determines that all or part | ||
of a registration fee should be refunded, the refund shall be made | ||
by warrant on the State Treasury from the fund into which the | ||
registration fee was deposited. | ||
(i) The agency shall use the comptroller's uniform | ||
statewide accounting system under Chapter 2101 to make all | ||
payments, other than direct payments from the agency's account to | ||
the Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company. | ||
Sec. 46. RECORDS; REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. | ||
(a) The Commissioner 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 Commissioner 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; | ||
(2) a financial report of the previous fiscal year, | ||
including reports on 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 Commissioner 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 agency personnel and the total | ||
amount of per diem expenses and travel expenses paid for all agency | ||
employees, including trend performance data for the preceding five | ||
fiscal years; | ||
(2) the total amount of per diem expenses and travel | ||
expenses paid for each member of the Board, including trend | ||
performance data for the preceding five fiscal years; | ||
(3) the agency's operating plan covering a period of | ||
two fiscal years and operating budget, including revenues and a | ||
breakdown of expenditures by program and administrative expenses, | ||
showing: | ||
(A) projected budget data for a period of two | ||
fiscal years; and | ||
(B) trend performance data for the preceding five | ||
fiscal years regarding: | ||
(1) the number of full-time equivalent | ||
positions at the agency; | ||
(2) the number of complaints received from | ||
the public and the number of complaints initiated by agency staff; | ||
(3) the number of complaints dismissed and | ||
the number of complaints resolved by enforcement action; | ||
(4) the number of enforcement actions by | ||
sanction type; | ||
(5) the number of enforcement cases closed | ||
through voluntary compliance; | ||
(6) the amount of administrative penalties | ||
assessed and the rate of collection of assessed administrative | ||
penalties; | ||
(7) the number of enforcement cases that | ||
allege a threat to public health, safety, or welfare or a violation | ||
of professional standards of care and the disposition of those | ||
cases; | ||
(8) the average time to resolve a | ||
complaint; | ||
(9) the number of license holders or | ||
regulated persons broken down by type of license and license | ||
status, including inactive status or retired status; | ||
(10) the fee charged to issue and renew each | ||
type of license, certificate, permit, or other similar | ||
authorization issued by the agency; | ||
(11) the average time to issue a license; | ||
(12) litigation costs, broken down by | ||
administrative hearings, judicial proceedings, and outside counsel | ||
costs; and | ||
(13) reserve fund balances; and | ||
(4) a detailed report of all revenue received and all | ||
expenses incurred by the agency in the previous 12 months. | ||
Sec. 47. ABILITY TO CONTRACT. | ||
(a) To carry out and promote the objectives of this Act, the | ||
Commissioner may enter into contracts and do all other acts | ||
incidental to those contracts that are necessary for the | ||
administration of the agency's affairs and for the attainment of | ||
the agency's purposes, except as limited by Subsection (b). | ||
(b) Any indebtedness, liability, or obligation of the | ||
agency incurred under this section may not: | ||
(1) create a debt or other liability of this state or | ||
another entity other than the agency; or | ||
(2) create any personal liability on the part of the | ||
members of the Board or the agency's employees. | ||
Sec. 48. PROPERTY. The agency 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 powers, rights, privileges, or | ||
functions of the agency; | ||
(2) sell or otherwise dispose of any real, personal, | ||
or mixed property, or any interest in property, that the | ||
Commissioner determines is not necessary or convenient to the | ||
exercise of the agency's 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 powers, rights, privileges, or | ||
functions of the agency; and | ||
(4) borrow money, as may be authorized from time to | ||
time by an affirmative vote of a three-fifths majority of the Board, | ||
for a period not to exceed five years if necessary or convenient to | ||
the exercise of the agency's powers, rights, privileges, or | ||
functions. | ||
Sec. 49. POST-PARTICIPATION LIABILITY. | ||
(a) If the agency no longer has status under The Securities | ||
Act 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 The Securities | ||
Act 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. 50. DUE PROCESS; OPEN GOVERNMENT. The State Securities | ||
Board is: | ||
(1) a governmental body for purposes of Chapters 551 and | ||
552, Government Code; and | ||
(2) a state agency for purposes of Chapters 2001 and 2005, | ||
Government Code. | ||
Sec. 51. MEMBERSHIP IN EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM. | ||
Employees of the State Securities Board are members of the | ||
Employees Retirement System of Texas under Chapter 812, Government | ||
Code, and the State Securities Board's transition to independent | ||
status as provided by this Act has no effect on their membership or | ||
any benefits under that system. | ||
Sec. 52. GIFTS. | ||
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Commissioner may not | ||
accept a gift, grant, or donation on behalf of the agency: | ||
(1) from a party to an enforcement action; or | ||
(2) to pursue a specific investigation or enforcement | ||
action. | ||
(b) The Commissioner must: | ||
(1) report each gift, grant, or donation that the | ||
agency receives as a separate item in the agency's report required | ||
under Section 47(b); and | ||
(2) include with the report a statement indicating the | ||
purpose for which each gift, grant, or donation was donated and | ||
used. | ||
SECTION 1.2. Section 2, The Securities Act (Article 581-2, | ||
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsections | ||
D, G, K, and O to read as follows: | ||
D. Each member of the Board is entitled to reimbursement for | ||
the travel expenses incurred |
||
|
||
of the Board. | ||
The Governor shall designate a member of the Board as | ||
the presiding officer of the Board to serve in that capacity at the | ||
will of the Governor. A majority of the members shall constitute a | ||
quorum for the transaction of any business. | ||
G. The Board shall appoint a Securities Commissioner who | ||
serves at the pleasure of the Board and who shall, under the | ||
supervision of the Board, administer the provisions of this Act. | ||
The Board shall determine the salary of the Securities | ||
Commissioner. Each member of the Board shall have access to all | ||
offices and records under his supervision, and the Board, or a | ||
majority thereof, may exercise any power or perform any act | ||
authorized to the Securities Commissioner by the provisions of this | ||
Act. | ||
K. The Commissioner or his designee shall develop an | ||
intraagency career ladder program, one part of which shall be the | ||
intraagency posting of all nonentry level positions for at least | ||
ten (10) days before any public posting. The Commissioner or his | ||
designee shall develop a system of annual performance evaluations | ||
based on measurable job tasks. All merit pay for Board employees | ||
must be based on the system established under this section. The | ||
Commissioner shall determine the number of Board employees and the | ||
salaries of those employees. | ||
O. The State Securities Board is subject to Chapter 325, | ||
Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence | ||
as provided by that chapter, the board is abolished and this Act | ||
expires September 1, 2019. The Sunset Advisory Commission shall | ||
examine the agency's performance as a self-directed and | ||
semi-independent agency as part of the commission's periodic review | ||
of the agency under Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset | ||
Act). The agency shall pay the cost incurred by the Sunset Advisory | ||
Commission in performing a review of the agency under the agency's | ||
enabling legislation. The Sunset Advisory Commission shall | ||
determine the cost, and the agency shall pay the amount promptly on | ||
receipt of a statement from the Sunset Advisory Commission | ||
detailing the cost. | ||
SECTION 1.3. Subsection C of Section 2-3, The Securities Act | ||
(Article 581-2-3, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
C. A person appointed to the Board is entitled to | ||
reimbursement |
||
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 1.4. Subsection A of Section 35, The Securities Act | ||
(Article 581-35, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
A. The Board shall establish the following fees to produce | ||
|
||
|
||
the costs of administering and enforcing this Act: | ||
(1) for the filing of any original, amended, or | ||
renewal application to sell or dispose of securities |
||
|
||
(2) for the filing of any original application of a | ||
dealer or investment adviser or for the submission of a notice | ||
filing for a federal covered investment adviser |
||
|
||
(3) for the filing of any renewal application of a | ||
dealer or investment adviser or for the submission of a renewal | ||
notice filing for a federal covered investment adviser |
||
|
||
(4) for the filing of any original application for | ||
each agent, officer, or investment adviser representative or for | ||
the submission of a notice filing for each representative of a | ||
federal covered investment adviser |
||
and | ||
(5) for the filing of any renewal application for each | ||
agent, officer, or investment adviser representative or for the | ||
submission of a renewal notice filing for each representative of a | ||
federal covered investment adviser |
||
SECTION 1.5. Subsections J and N of Section 2, The Securities Act | ||
(Article 581-2, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), Subsections C and D | ||
of Section 35, The Securities Act (Article 581-35, Vernon's Texas | ||
Civil Statutes), and Section 36, The Securities Act (Article | ||
581-36, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) are repealed. | ||
SECTION 2.1. To provide a reasonable period for the State | ||
Securities Board to establish itself as a self-directed and | ||
semi-independent agency, the following amounts are appropriated | ||
from the general revenue fund to the State Securities Board: | ||
(1) for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2016, | ||
an amount equal to 50% of the amount of general revenue appropriated | ||
to the agency for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2015; and | ||
(2) for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2017, | ||
an amount equal to 50% of the amount of general revenue appropriated | ||
to the agency for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2015. | ||
SECTION 2.2. Subject to Section 45, as added by this Act, the | ||
appropriations made in this Act may be spent by the State Securities | ||
Board to which they are made as the Commissioner directs. The agency | ||
shall repay to the general revenue fund the appropriation made to | ||
the agency for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2016, not | ||
later than that date and as funds become available. The agency shall | ||
repay to the general revenue fund the appropriation made to the | ||
agency for the state fiscal year ending August 31, 2017, not later | ||
than that date and as funds become available. | ||
SECTION 3.1. The transfer of the State Securities Board to | ||
self-directed and semi-independent status under 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 State Securities 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 State Securities Board, | ||
Commissioner, or agency in the administration or enforcement of the | ||
agency's duties. | ||
SECTION 3.2. The State Securities Board shall continue to have and | ||
exercise the powers and duties allocated to the agency in the | ||
agency's enabling legislation, except as specifically amended by | ||
this Act. | ||
SECTION 4.1. Title to or ownership of all supplies, materials, | ||
records, equipment, books, papers, and furniture used by the State | ||
Securities Board is transferred to the State Securities Board in | ||
fee simple. This Act does not affect any property owned by the State | ||
Securities Board on or before the effective date of this section. | ||
SECTION 4.2. Beginning September 1, 2015, the State Securities | ||
Board shall pay rent to this state in a reasonable amount to be | ||
determined by the Texas Facilities Commission for its use and | ||
occupancy of state-owned office space. | ||
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |