2023 Texas Statutes › Government Code › Title 3 - Legislative Branch › Subtitle C - Legislative Agencies and Oversight Committees › Chapter 325 - Sunset Law › Section 325.003. Sunset Advisory Commission

Sec. 325.003.  SUNSET ADVISORY COMMISSION.  (a)  The Sunset Advisory Commission is a legislative agency that consists of five members of the senate and one public member appointed by the lieutenant governor and five members of the house of representatives and one public member appointed by the speaker of the house.  The lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house may serve as one of the legislative appointees.
(a-1)  A public member acts on behalf of the legislature when participating on the commission in furtherance of the legislature's duty to provide oversight of executive branch agencies' implementation of legislative priorities.
(b)  An individual is not eligible for appointment as a public member if the individual or the individual's spouse is:
(1)  regulated by a state agency that the commission will review during the term for which the individual would serve;
(2)  employed by, participates in the management of, or directly or indirectly has more than a 10 percent interest in a business entity or other organization regulated by a state agency the commission will review during the term for which the individual would serve; or
(3)  required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305 because of the person's activities for compensation on behalf of a profession or entity related to the operation of an agency under review.
(c)  It is a ground for removal of a public member from the commission if the member does not have the qualifications required by Subsection (b) for appointment to the commission at the time of appointment or does not maintain the qualifications while serving on the commission.  The validity of the commission's action is not affected by the fact that it was taken when a ground for removal of a public member from the commission existed.
(d)  Legislative members serve four-year terms, with terms staggered so that the terms of as near to one-half of the legislative members appointed by the lieutenant governor as possible and the terms of as near to one-half of the legislative members appointed by the speaker as possible expire September 1 of each odd-numbered year.  If the lieutenant governor or the speaker serves on the commission, service continues until resignation from the commission or until the individual ceases to hold the office.  Public members serve two-year terms expiring September 1 of each odd-numbered year.
(e)  Members other than the lieutenant governor and the speaker are subject to the following restrictions:
(1)  after a legislative member serves two terms on the commission or a public member serves three terms on the commission, the individual is not eligible for appointment to another term or part of a term;
(2)  a legislative member who serves a full term may not be appointed to an immediately succeeding term; and
(3)  a public member may not serve more than two consecutive terms, and, for purposes of this prohibition, a member is considered to have served a term only if the member has served more than half of the term.
(e-1)  If an individual serves for less than a full term, the term is not counted toward determining the individual's eligibility to serve on the commission under Subsection (e)(1) unless the individual was a member of the commission for each public hearing at which the state agencies being reviewed during the individual's term were discussed.
(f)  The lieutenant governor and speaker shall make their appointments before September 1 of each odd-numbered year.
(g)  If a legislative member ceases to be a member of the house from which he was appointed, the member vacates his membership on the commission.
(h)  If a vacancy occurs, the appropriate appointing authority shall appoint a person to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment.
(i)  The commission shall have a chairman and vice-chairman as presiding officers.  The chairmanship and vice-chairmanship must alternate every two years between the two membership groups appointed by the lieutenant governor and the speaker.  The chairman and vice-chairman may not be from the same membership group.  The lieutenant governor shall designate a presiding officer from his appointed membership group and the speaker shall designate the other presiding officer from his appointed membership group.
(j)  Seven members of the commission constitute a quorum.  A final action or recommendation may not be made unless approved by a record vote of a majority of members appointed by the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house.  All other actions by the commission shall be decided by a majority of the members present and voting.
(k)  Each member of the commission is entitled to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in performing commission duties.  Each legislative member is entitled to reimbursement from the appropriate fund of the member's respective house.  Each public member is entitled to reimbursement from funds appropriated to the commission.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 479, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.  Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 1008, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1987;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., 3rd C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 6.17, eff. Jan. 11, 2004.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 928 (H.B. 3249), Sec. 1.01, eff. June 15, 2007.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 596 (S.B. 619), Sec. 7.02, eff. June 10, 2019.