Capriglione Public Information Bill Opens Agencies, Exempts The Legislature

The text as introduced · 2,130 words

By: Capriglione
H.B. No. 5027

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the public information law.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 552.003(1), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(1) "Governmental body":

(A) means:

(i) a board, commission, department,

committee, institution, agency, or office that is within or is

created by the executive or legislative branch of state government

and that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members;

(ii) a county commissioners court in the

state;

(iii) a municipal governing body in the

state;

(iv) a deliberative body that has

rulemaking or quasi-judicial power and that is classified as a

department, agency, or political subdivision of a county or

municipality;

(v) a school district board of trustees;

(vi) a county board of school trustees;

(vii) a county board of education;

(viii) the governing board of a special

district;

(ix) the governing body of a nonprofit

corporation organized under Chapter 67, Water Code, that provides a

water supply or wastewater service, or both, and is exempt from ad

valorem taxation under Section 11.30, Tax Code;

(x) a local workforce development board

created under Section 2308.253;

(xi) a nonprofit corporation that is

eligible to receive funds under the federal community services

block grant program and that is authorized by this state to serve a

geographic area of the state;

(xii) a confinement facility operated under

a contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal

Justice;

(xiii) a civil commitment housing facility

owned, leased, or operated by a vendor under contract with the state

as provided by Chapter 841, Health and Safety Code;

(xiv) an entity that receives public funds

in the current or preceding state fiscal year to manage the daily

operations or restoration of the Alamo, or an entity that oversees

such an entity; and

(xv) [ the part, section, or portion of ] an

organization, corporation, commission, committee, institution, or

agency :

(a) for which the source of at least

51 percent of its revenue during the preceding year was public

funds; or

(b) that engages primarily in

activities under an agreement with or a grant from another

governmental body [ that spends or that is supported in whole or in

part by public funds ]; and

(B) does not include:

(i) the judiciary; or

(ii) an economic development entity whose

mission or purpose is to develop and promote the economic growth of

a state agency or political subdivision with which the entity

contracts if:

(a) the entity does not receive $1

million or more in public funds from a single state agency or

political subdivision in the current or preceding state fiscal

year; or

(b) the entity:

(1) either:

(A) does not have the

authority to make decisions or recommendations on behalf of a state

agency or political subdivision regarding tax abatements or tax

incentives; or

(B) does not require an

officer of the state agency or political subdivision to hold office

as a member of the board of directors of the entity;

(2) does not use staff or office

space of the state agency or political subdivision for no or nominal

consideration, unless the space is available to the public;

(3) to a reasonable degree,

tracks the entity's receipt and expenditure of public funds

separately from the entity's receipt and expenditure of private

funds; and

(4) provides at least quarterly

public reports to the state agency or political subdivision

regarding work performed on behalf of the state agency or political

subdivision.

SECTION 2. Section 552.106, Government Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) The exception to disclosure provided by this section

does not apply to governmental bodies described by Sections

552.003(1)(A)(ii)-(xiv).

SECTION 3. Section 552.107, Government Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 552.107. EXCEPTION: CERTAIN LEGAL MATTERS. (a)

Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021

if:

(1) it is information that the attorney general [ or an

attorney of a political subdivision ] is prohibited from disclosing

because of a duty to the client under the Texas Rules of Evidence or

the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct; [ or ]

(2) it is information that pertains to active

litigation against a governmental body; or

(3) a court by order has prohibited disclosure of the

information.

(b) The exception to disclosure provided by this section

does not apply to:

(1) a communication with an attorney or an attorney's

representative, other than information contained in the

communication to which the exception otherwise applies; or

(2) a report, audit, or other material created in the

absence of active litigation.

(c) When rendering a decision under Subchapter G as to

whether requested information is within the scope of the exception

to disclosure provided by this section, the attorney general shall

restrict the scope of the attorney-client privilege by construing

the exception narrowly and in favor of the public's interest in

maximum government transparency.

SECTION 4. Sections 552.305(a) and (d), Government Code,

are amended to read as follows:

(a) In a case in which information is requested under this

chapter and a person's privacy or property interests may be

involved, including a case under Section 552.101, 552.110,

552.1101, 552.114, [ 552.131, ] or 552.143, a governmental body may

decline to release the information for the purpose of requesting an

attorney general decision.

(d) If release of a person's proprietary information may be

subject to exception under Section 552.101, 552.110, 552.1101,

552.113, [ 552.131, ] or 552.143, the governmental body that requests

an attorney general decision under Section 552.301 shall make a

good faith attempt to notify that person of the request for the

attorney general decision. Notice under this subsection must:

(1) be in writing and sent within a reasonable time not

later than the 10th business day after the date the governmental

body receives the request for the information; and

(2) include:

(A) a copy of the written request for the

information, if any, received by the governmental body; and

(B) a statement, in the form prescribed by the

attorney general, that the person is entitled to submit in writing

to the attorney general within a reasonable time not later than the

10th business day after the date the person receives the notice:

(i) each reason the person has as to why the

information should be withheld; and

(ii) a letter, memorandum, or brief in

support of that reason.

SECTION 5. Section 552.133(a-1), Government Code, is

transferred to Section 551.086, Government Code, and redesignated

as Section 551.086(a-1), Government Code, to read as follows:

(a-1) For purposes of this section, "competitive matter"

means a utility-related matter, including for an entity described

by Subdivision (2) a cable, Internet, or broadband service matter,

that is related to the public power utility's competitive activity,

including commercial information, and would, if disclosed, give

advantage to competitors or prospective competitors. The term:

(1) means a matter that is reasonably related to the

following categories of information:

(A) generation unit specific and portfolio fixed

and variable costs, including forecasts of those costs, capital

improvement plans for generation units, and generation unit

operating characteristics and outage scheduling;

(B) bidding and pricing information for

purchased power, generation and fuel, and Electric Reliability

Council of Texas bids, prices, offers, and related services and

strategies;

(C) effective fuel and purchased power

agreements and fuel transportation arrangements and contracts;

(D) risk management information, contracts, and

strategies, including fuel hedging and storage;

(E) plans, studies, proposals, and analyses for

system improvements, additions, or sales, other than transmission

and distribution system improvements inside the service area for

which the public power utility is the sole certificated retail

provider; and

(F) customer billing, contract, and usage

information, electric power pricing information, system load

characteristics, and electric power marketing analyses and

strategies;

(2) means a matter reasonably related to information

involving the provision of cable, Internet, or broadband services

by a municipally owned utility that provided electricity services

and cable, Internet, or broadband services on or before January 1,

2003, including:

(A) a capital improvement plan;

(B) an expense related to the installation of a

facility to provide those services;

(C) bidding and pricing information for

installation of the facility;

(D) risk management information, contracts, and

strategies;

(E) plans, studies, proposals, and analyses for:

(i) system improvements, additions, or

sales; or

(ii) establishing pricing for providing

those services; and

(F) customer billing, contract, and usage

information; and

(3) does not include the following categories of

information:

(A) information relating to the provision of

distribution access service, including the terms and conditions of

the service and the rates charged for the service but not including

information concerning utility-related services or products that

are competitive;

(B) information relating to the provision of

transmission service that is required to be filed with the Public

Utility Commission of Texas, subject to any confidentiality

provided for under the rules of the commission;

(C) information for the distribution system

pertaining to reliability and continuity of service, to the extent

not security-sensitive, that relates to emergency management,

identification of critical loads such as hospitals and police,

records of interruption, and distribution feeder standards;

(D) any substantive rule or tariff of general

applicability regarding rates, service offerings, service

regulation, customer protections, or customer service adopted by

the public power utility as authorized by law;

(E) aggregate information reflecting receipts or

expenditures of funds of the public power utility, of the type that

would be included in audited financial statements;

(F) information relating to equal employment

opportunities for minority groups, as filed with local, state, or

federal agencies;

(G) information relating to the public power

utility's performance in contracting with minority business

entities;

(H) information relating to nuclear

decommissioning trust agreements, of the type required to be

included in audited financial statements;

(I) information relating to the amount and timing

of any transfer to an owning city's general fund;

(J) information relating to environmental

compliance as required to be filed with any local, state, or

national environmental authority, subject to any confidentiality

provided under the rules of those authorities;

(K) names of public officers of the public power

utility and the voting records of those officers for all matters

other than those within the scope of a competitive resolution

provided for by this section;

(L) a description of the public power utility's

central and field organization, including the established places at

which the public may obtain information, submit information and

requests, or obtain decisions and the identification of employees

from whom the public may obtain information, submit information or

requests, or obtain decisions;

(M) information identifying the general course

and method by which the public power utility's functions are

channeled and determined, including the nature and requirements of

all formal and informal policies and procedures;

(N) salaries and total compensation of all

employees of a public power utility;

(O) information publicly released by the

Electric Reliability Council of Texas in accordance with a law,

rule, or protocol generally applicable to similarly situated market

participants;

(P) information related to a chilled water

program, as defined by Section 11.003, Utilities Code; or

(Q) information included in the separate books

and records required to be kept by an entity described by

Subdivision (2) as required by Section 552.915, Local Government

Code.

SECTION 6. Section 551.086(c), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(c) This chapter does not require a public power utility

governing body to conduct an open meeting to deliberate, vote, or

take final action on any competitive matter[ , as that term is

defined by Section 552.133 ]. This section does not limit the right

of a public power utility governing body to hold a closed session

under any other exception provided for in this chapter.

SECTION 7. Section 306.003, Government Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:

(e) Records and communications described by Subsection (a)

are not subject to Chapter 552.

SECTION 8. SECTION 306.004, Government Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:

(f) Records and communications described by Subsection (a)

are not subject to Chapter 552.

SECTION 9. Section 306.008, Government Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:

(f) Records and communications described by Subsection (a)

or (b) are not subject to Chapter 552.

SECTION 10. The following provisions of the Government Code

are repealed:

(1) the heading to Section 552.133;

(2) Sections 552.133(a), (b), (b-1), and (c); and

(3) Sections 552.111, 552.123, 552.126, and 552.154.

SECTION 11. This Act takes effect immediately if it

receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each

house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.

If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate

effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.