16 TAC §20.201
The Railroad Commission proposes amendments to §20.201,
concerning gifts to the commission. Texas Civil Statutes, Article 6447i, authorizes
the commission to apply for, request, solicit, contract for, receive, accept,
and administer gifts, grants, and donations of money or other assistance from
any source to carry out any commission purpose or power authorized by law.
Texas Natural Resources Code, §113.243(e), permits the commission to
apply for, request, solicit, contract for, receive, and accept gifts, grants,
and other assistance from any source for the purposes of Subchapter I of Chapter
113. Texas Government Code, §2255.001, requires a state agency that is
authorized by statute to accept money from a private donor to adopt rules
governing the relationship between the donor and the agency and its employees.
Texas Government Code, §572.051, provides guidance to state officials
and employees who may be accepting gifts on behalf of their agencies.
At the time the commission initially adopted §20.201, Texas Government
Code, Chapter 575, required an agency to accept a gift by majority vote in
an open meeting. Senate Bill 183 (76th Legislature, Regular Session) amended
Texas Government Code, §575.003, to allow a state agency to acknowledge
acceptance of a gift valued at $500 or more in an open meeting not later than
the 90th day after the gift is accepted. In light of this statutory change,
and a change in the management structure of the commission that eliminated
the position of executive director, the commission proposes to amend §20.201.
The proposed amendments to §20.201 incorporate the commission's organizational
change by placing the process for the commission's evaluation and acceptance
of a gift within the purview of the Director of Finance and Administration,
rather than the Executive Director. The process for making a gift remains
unchanged from that originally established in §20.201, except that the
proposed amendments specifically delegate to the Director of Finance and Administration
the authority to accept all gifts on behalf of the commission, including those
valued at $500 or more, and set out the procedure by which the commission
will acknowledge receipt of gifts valued at $500 or more not later than 90
days after acceptance of the gift.
The Director of Finance and Administration will make a determination whether
to accept a proposed gift or not, and will notify the donor and the appropriate
division director in writing. If the estimated value of an accepted gift is
$500 or more, the director will ensure that the gift is acknowledged by the
commission at an open meeting not later than 90 days after acceptance.
In addition, to avoid possible confusion regarding whether travel expenses
fall within the meaning of the term "gift," the commission proposes to amend
the definition of that term in subsection (a)(6). The change occurs in the
second sentence of the definition, which offers examples of things that are
not gifts. By changing the word "person's" to "non-employee's," the commission
seeks to clarify two points: first, that when non-employees speak at commission-sponsored
conferences, seminars, etc., it is not considered a gift to the commission,
primarily because that activity is as beneficial to the speaker as to the
commission. Second, the change clarifies that the commission may accept as
a gift to the agency travel expenses for an employee to attend training, a
conference, or a seminar regardless of whether the employee participates as
a speaker or presenter. Corresponding amendments are made on the gift form.
Kathy Pyka, Director of Finance and Administration, has determined that
for each year of the first five years that the rule as proposed will be in
effect, there may be fiscal implications for state government, which are anticipated
to be minimal. The commission will receive a benefit from any donations of
money or other assistance, and under the new procedure, will be able to accept
and use such gifts sooner than would be possible under the current procedure.
However, it is not possible to estimate whether any such gifts will be made
or their value. There will be no fiscal implications for local government.
Ms. Pyka has also determined that the public benefit anticipated as a result
of enforcing or administering the rule will be the opportunity for the commission
to accept and immediately begin using gifts of money or other assistance which
will aid the commission in carrying out its multiple duties. Proposed gifts
will continue to be reviewed under guidelines that will ensure public confidence
in the process.
The proposed amendments to §20.201 impose no additional costs of compliance
for individuals, small businesses, or micro-businesses. All gift-giving to
the commission is voluntary; therefore, no entity is compelled to participate
in this process. There may be some benefit to individual, small business,
or micro-business donors in learning sooner rather than later that a proposed
gift is or is not accepted, but it is impossible to assess any such benefit
in terms of a dollar amount.
Comments may be submitted to Mary Ross McDonald, Deputy General Counsel,
Railroad Commission of Texas, P.O. Box 12967, Austin, Texas, 78711-2967. The
commission will accept comments for 30 days following publication of this
proposal in the
Texas Register
.
The commission proposes the amendments to §20.201 under
Texas Government Code, §575.003, which permits an agency to acknowledge
acceptance of a gift by majority vote in an open meeting not later than the
90th day after the date the gift is accepted, and §2001.004, which requires
state agencies to adopt rules of practice stating the nature and requirements
of all available formal and informal procedures; and Texas Civil Statutes,
Article 6447, which authorizes the commission to make all rules necessary
for its government and proceedings.
Texas Civil Statutes, Articles 6447 and 6447i; Texas Natural Resources
Code, §113.243(e); Texas Government Code, §2255.001; and Texas Government
Code, §572.051, Chapter 575, and §2001.004, are affected by the
proposed amendments to §20.201.
Issued in Austin, Texas, on May 23, 2000.
§20.201.Gifts to the Commission.
(a)
Definitions. The following words and terms when used in
this section shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise.
(1)-(4)
(No change.)
(5)
Director--The Director of Finance
and Administration.
(6)
Division director--The director of
any commission division.
(7)
[
(5)
] Employee--A full-time
or part-time employee of the commission.
(8)
[
(6)
] Gift--A donation of money,
property, or other assistance conveyed to the commission and over which the
commission has complete title, control, or discretion. The term does not include
items that are temporarily in the commission's possession for testing or research
purposes; a
non-employee's
[
person's
] participation
as a speaker or presenter in a commission-sponsored conference or seminar;
or payments made pursuant to Texas Natural Resources Code, §89.084.
(9)
[
(7)
] Inception of the case--The
date an application, complaint, petition, statement of intent, or other request
for commission action, ruling, or relief is determined to require a hearing
or the date a matter is referred to the Office of General Counsel, whichever
is earlier.
(10)
[
(8)
] Money--Cash or negotiable
instruments.
(11)
[
(9)
] Other assistance--The
gift of personnel or expertise in a particular professional or technical area.
(12)
[
(10)
] Party--A person or a
state agency named or admitted as a party to a contested case pending before
the commission.
(13)
[
(11)
] Person--An individual;
a partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, cooperative, corporation,
association, or any other business organization or entity; a trust; an estate;
a public or private institution of higher education; or a state agency, county,
municipality, council of government, school district or other governmental
subdivision.
(14)
[
(12)
] Property--Real property
or personal property, both tangible and intangible.
(b)
Terms and conditions. The commission may apply for, request,
solicit, contract for, receive, accept, and administer gifts, grants, and
donations of money or other assistance from any source to carry out any commission
purpose or power authorized by law except as follows:
(1)
Neither the
[
The
] commission
nor its delegate
shall [
not
] accept a gift from a party in
a contested case during the period from the inception of the contested case
until the 30th day after the date the decision in a contested case becomes
final under Texas Government Code, §2001.144.
(2)
Neither the
[
The
] commission
nor its delegate
shall [
not
] solicit or accept any gift:
(A)-(C)
(No change.)
(c)
Notice of intent to make a gift. A person wishing to make
a gift to the commission shall file with the
Director
[
executive
director
] a completed RRC Gift Form, Notice of Gift to Railroad Commission
of Texas, or a letter including the following information:
Figure: 16 TAC §20.201(c)
(1)-(6)
(No change.)
(7)
The
Director
[
executive director
]
shall forward the form or letter to the appropriate division director for
review.
(d)
Division director review.
(1)
The division director to whom the
Director
[
executive director
] has forwarded a copy of the form or
letter shall review the form or letter within 10 business days. The
division
director shall indicate on the form whether:
(A)
[
(1)
] the intended gift would assist
the commission in carrying out its duties and, if so, how;
(B)
[
(2)
] the intended gift would provide
a broad or general benefit to the commission in carrying out its purposes
and powers that would exceed any particular benefit that the donor might realize
as a result of making the gift;
(C)
[
(3)
] the division director agrees
with the estimated value of the gift and, if not, the division director's
estimate of the value of the gift and the reason for the difference of opinion;
and
(D)
[
(4)
] the commission should accept
the intended gift and, if not, the reasons the division director recommends
against accepting the intended gift.
(2)
[
(5)
] The division director
shall forward the form or letter to the Office of General Counsel for review.
(e)
Office of General Counsel review. Upon receipt of a form
or letter from a division director, the Office of General Counsel shall review
the form or letter within 10 business days regarding the intended donor's
status as a party in any proceeding pending before the commission.
(1)
(No change.)
(2)
The Office of General Counsel shall forward the reviewed
form or letter to the
Director
[
executive director
]
for final review.
(f)
Director
[
Executive director
] review.
Upon receipt of a form or letter reviewed by a division director and the Office
of General Counsel, the
Director
[
executive director
]
shall review the form or letter within 10 business days to ensure that all
information required by this section is included.
(1)
The
Director
[
executive director
]
may request that the person filing the notice of intent to make a gift supply
additional information regarding the donor, the intended gift, its estimated
value, its usefulness to the commission, the donor's party status, or any
other information that the
Director
[
executive director
]
deems relevant to the intended gift.
(2)
The commission delegates to the Director
the authority to accept or reject intended gifts using the standards and procedures
set forth in this section.
(3)
[
(2)
] If the
Director
[
executive director
] finds all information on the form or letter
to be
complete and accurate
[
satisfactory and the value of
the gift is less than $500
], the
Director
[
executive
director
] shall
either accept or reject
[
approve
]
the
intended
gift
. The Director shall accept a gift
by signing and dating the RRC Gift Form and
forwarding
[
shall
forward
] copies of the form to the donor, the appropriate division director,
the Finance and Administration Division, and the Office of General Counsel.
The Director shall notify in writing the donor, the appropriate division director,
the Finance and Accounting Division, the Office of General Counsel, and the
commissioners of a decision to reject an intended gift, and shall include
a brief statement of the reason(s) for the rejection.
(4)
[
(3)
] If the
Director accepts
a gift valued at
[
executive director finds all information on the
form or letter to be satisfactory and the value of the gift is
] $500
or more, the
Director
[
executive director
] shall:
(A)
give notice that the commission will
acknowledge the
acceptance
[
consider the matter
] at an open meeting; and
(B)
prepare a document by which the commission may acknowledge
acceptance of a gift
[
request that the Office of General Counsel
draft an order consistent with the staff recommendation regarding acceptance
of the intended gift
].
(5)
[
(4)
] In an open meeting,
the commission shall consider the
acknowledgment of an accepted gift
and
[
intended gift and shall vote on whether to accept the gift.
The commission
] shall commemorate the
acknowledgment
[
vote
] by signing
the prepared document
[
an order
].
(g)
Upon a
Director
[
commission order or an
executive director
] decision accepting a gift, the
Director
[
executive director
] shall ensure that the commission staff takes
all appropriate steps to receive the gift and to account for it properly in
the records of the commission.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State, on May 24, 2000.
TRD-200003652
Mary Ross McDonald
Deputy General Counsel
Railroad Commission of Texas
Earliest possible date of adoption: July 9, 2000
For further information, please call: (512) 475-1295