Bill Text: TX SB1000 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Relating to self-directed and semi-independent status of the Texas Real Estate Commission; making an appropriation.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 11-2)

Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective on 9/1/11 [SB1000 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB1000-Comm_Sub.html

---

82R26630 NC-F
By: Eltife, Hinojosa, Van de Putte, Williams,et al. S.B. No. 1000
et al.
(Geren, Thompson, Hamilton, Darby, Otto, et al.)

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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. Section 1101.059(c), 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. Section 1101.101(d), 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. Section 1103.103(b), 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.