Agencies up for sunset review include railroad commission, ethics agency

Other agencies facing review include the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Texas Lottery Commission and the State Preservation Board, which oversees, among other things, the state Capitol.

Sunset review process

Every 10 years, every state agency gets a sunset review in which a commission of House and Senate members do a top-to-bottom review of the agency, its mission, its structure and funding—and even its name.

The commission then makes recommendations to lawmakers on changes or updates and whether to keep the agency for another 10 years or dissolve it in favor of something new.

When the commission gives its report to the Legislature, a lawmaker sponsors the bill making some or all of the changes recommended by the sunset commission.

If the bill does not pass—which is what happened in 2011 with the railroad commission, and it is not unusual—the agency is continued for two more years until lawmakers can deal with it the following session.

Up for review

The Texas Ethics Commission, which oversees campaign finance and other behavior by Texas politicians, is also up for its review this year.

State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, has filed a bill that, in part, requires lawmakers to disclose pensions, retirement accounts, and "any other source of earned or unearned income" in their personal financial statements.

"Texans should not have to rely on the media or other sources to gather and post information that, by the law's intent, is designed to be available to the public," Howard said in a press release.

If Howard's bill stalls in committee, she has the chance to add it as an amendment onto the ethics sunset bill when it hits the House floor for debate.

The sunset commission's recommendations for the ethics committee include requiring personal financial statements to be filed electronically, strengthening definitions of who should register as a lobbyist, and reforming its review and complaint system for ethics violators.

A sunset report on the ethics commission says it is necessary to update the agency's systems because disclosure and transparency are its strengths, and those are compromised because the agency has not kept up with changing times.

"Given the few limits state law places on campaign contributions and expenditures, Texas' approach to ethics relies on disclosure to shine a light on political financial activity for the public to see and judge," according to the report.

The TRC is also under scrutiny and has the potential to become what lawmakers refer to as a "Christmas tree," with several oil- and gas-related bills attached to it as amendments when it hits the House floor.

The agency is front and center because the industry's recent rapid growth is the main reason lawmakers this session have a $8.8 billion budget surplus. Leaders said they want to make sure the agency that oversees the surplus is ready for the challenge.

"While clearly beneficial to Texas' economy, questions have been raised about the impact of this rapid growth on public safety, groundwater, and local roads and infrastructure," reads the sunset commission report on the TRC. "With these challenges in mind, the sunset commission concluded having a transparent and objective regulator is more important now than ever."