BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1522

By: Gerdes

Delivery of Government Efficiency

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Local governmental bodies are required by state open meetings law to post notice of meetings to adopt budgets or other critical matters for their jurisdictional territory in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times for at least 72 hours before the scheduled time of the meeting. While this is meant to provide for government transparency and citizen participation, the bill author has informed the committee that the language of the current law can be used to the advantage of a local government whereby the intended transparency is infringed upon. For example, the author discovered that the City of Smithville used this language to its advantage to post notice late on a Friday afternoon for a Monday meeting to adopt a budget that relied on unsubstantiated tax hikes to meet the inflated budget. The author, upon further investigation into other cities, found similar instances along with a lack of public posting of proposed budgets and tax rates. C.S.H.B. 1522 seeks to ensure that full transparency and the right to participation is restored to all Texas residents by requiring the three-day posting rule in statute to cover only business days and requiring a physical copy of the budget to be publicly posted, including by providing for online posting.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1522 amends the Government Code to change the minimum duration for which the notice of a meeting of a governmental body must be posted under state open meetings law from 72 hours before the scheduled time of the meeting to three business days before the scheduled date of the meeting. The bill requires the notice that is posted for a meeting at which a governmental body will discuss or adopt a budget for the governmental body to include a physical copy of the budget unless the governmental body has made the budget clearly accessible on the home page of the governmental body's website. The bill exempts from this requirement the governing board of a general academic teaching institution or of a university system that is subject to statutory provisions relating to the Internet posting of meeting materials and the broadcast of open meetings and clarifies that those provisions are in exception to the three-business-day posting requirement for governmental body meeting notices.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1522 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Both the introduced and the substitute require the notice that is posted for a meeting at which a governmental body will discuss or adopt a budget for the governmental body to include a physical copy of the budget. However, the substitute includes an exception to that requirement that did not appear in the introduced for a governmental body that has made that budget clearly accessible on the home page of the governmental body's website. Additionally, the substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced that exempts from that requirement the governing board of a general academic teaching institution or of a university system subject to statutory provisions relating to the Internet posting of meeting materials and the broadcast of open meetings and includes a clarification that such provisions are in exception to the posting requirement for governmental body meeting notices, which was not included in the introduced.