Transparency Laws
Over the past several years, the Governor and the Legislature have issued executive orders and passed numerous bills aimed at improving state and local government transparency. Among the more memorable measures:
Executive Order RP47 (2005)
On August 22, 2005, Governor Perry issued Executive Order RP47 directing Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley to develop an indicator requiring school districts to spend at least 65 percent of their budget directly on classroom-related expenditures.
The “65 percent rule,” as it came to be known, based instructional costs on the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) definitions of classroom-related expenditures.
Under these proposed guidelines, there would be a three year phase-in, as directed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), to reach the 65 percent spending threshold. During the 2006-07 school year, school districts were required to spend 55 percent of their budgets on classroom instruction; 60 percent during the 2007-08 school year; and 65 percent during 2008-09. However, an exemption included by TEA allowed districts to opt out of the “65 percent rule” if they posted their check register and yearly payroll online.
As more districts began posting their financial information online to avoid the 65 percent spending requirement, interested parents and taxpayer advocates began asking every district to make this information available online, even if the district had already met the terms of the 65 percent rule.
Since the governor’s order was issued in 2005, more than 400 school districts now have their check registers online and a growing number have been recognized by the Texas Comptroller’s Leadership Circle initiative for their transparency efforts.
80th Legislative Session (2007):
House Bill 3430: Relating to the online availability of information about state expenditures, including the creation of a state database containing information on state expenditures, and to certain comptroller reports.
House Bill 3430 authorizes the Texas Comptroller to create and maintain a “one stop shop” of all state government spending information, known as Where the Money Goes. The state’s expenditure database records all of the information you would find in a check register, including the payment amount, date, payer and payee and makes it easily accessible. Users can sort through the information by agency, vendor, category, or purchase code to track how their tax dollars are being spent.
81st Legislative Session (2009):
House Bill 3: Relating to public school accountability, curriculum, and promotion requirements.
One of the provisions in House Bill 3 requires school districts toprominently post their adopted budget online, upon final approval of the budget by the board of trustees. The bill also requires that school districts maintain the adopted budget on the district’s website for at least three years.
House Bill 2504: Relating to requiring a public institution of higher education to make available to the public on the institution’s Internet website certain undergraduate course information.
House Bill 2504 mandated that public institutions of higher education post their departmental budgets online as well as course syllabi and instructors’ resume. The bill specifically requires the information to be made available in three or fewer links, searchable using keywords and phrases, and fully accessible without user registration.
House Bill 464: Relating to the preparation by the Legislative Budget Board of a dynamic fiscal impact statement for certain bills and joint resolutions affecting taxes and fees.
House Bill 464 requires greater transparency for legislation that would affect tax rates or fees. If a bill would raise or lower a tax or fee, HB 464 requires the Legislative Budget Board to prepare what are called “dynamic fiscal impact statements.” These statements will give the general public a better idea of the impact certain legislation will have on taxpayers.
House Bill 3676: Relating to the Texas Economic Development Act.
House Bill 3676 requires school districts to disclose to the Comptroller’s office previously unreported payments received from companies granted tax abatements. Under HB 3676, school districts must submit copies of applications, agreements, and any economic analyses (or any revisions of those documents) to the Comptroller’s office within seven days of receiving the document.
The bill also requires the Comptroller’s office to post these documents online and mandates that school district websites maintain a link to the location of those documents posted on the Comptroller’s website.
House Bill 1366: Relating to ballot language in an election authorizing the issuance of bonds for hospital district system improvements.
House Bill 1366 requires clearer ballot language for tax and revenue elections for hospital districts. The expectation is that HB 1366 will make bond elections less confusing for voters.
