Bill Text: TX HB2922 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating to the administration of the Port of Corpus Christi of Nueces County, Texas.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-12 - Referred to Transportation [HB2922 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB2922-Introduced.html

---

86R13171 SLB-D
By: Lozano H.B. No. 2922

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration of the Port of Corpus Christi of
Nueces County, Texas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 397, Acts of the 68th Legislature,
Regular Session, 1983, is amended by adding Sections 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 to read as follows:
Sec. 7. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
(1) "Authority" means the Port of Corpus Christi
Authority of Nueces County, Texas.
(2) "Port commission" means the port commission of the
authority.
(3) "Port commissioner" means a member of the port
commission.
Sec. 8. CONFLICT OF INTEREST. (a) In this section, "Texas
trade association" means a cooperative and voluntarily joined
statewide association of business or professional competitors in
this state designed to assist its members and its industry or
profession in dealing with mutual business or professional problems
and in promoting their common interest.
(b) A person may not be a port commissioner and may not be an
authority employee employed in a "bona fide executive,
administrative, or professional capacity," as that phrase is used
for purposes of establishing an exemption to the overtime
provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.), if:
(1) the person is an officer, employee, or paid
consultant of a Texas trade association in a field relating to
maritime commerce, the members of which are regulated by the
authority; or
(2) the person's spouse is an officer, manager, or paid
consultant of a Texas trade association in a field relating to
maritime commerce, the members of which are regulated by the
authority.
(c) A person may not be a port commissioner or act as the
general counsel to the port commission or the authority if the
person is required to register as a lobbyist under Chapter 305,
Government Code, because of the person's activities for
compensation on behalf of a profession related to the operation of
the authority.
(d) A person may not be a port commissioner if the person or
an individual related to the person in the first degree of
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code:
(1) is employed by or participates in the management
of a business entity or other organization regulated by or
receiving money from the authority; or
(2) uses or receives a substantial amount of tangible
goods, services, or money from the authority other than
compensation or reimbursement authorized by law for port commission
membership, attendance, or expenses.
Sec. 9. PORT COMMISSION POLICIES. (a) The port commission
shall adopt detailed policies that document its governance
practices and make those policies available on the authority's
website.
(b) The port commission shall develop and implement
policies that clearly separate the policymaking responsibilities
of the port commission and the management responsibilities of the
executive director and the other employees of the authority.
(c) The port commission shall distribute a copy of all
policies adopted under this section to each port commissioner and
authority employee not later than the third business day after the
date the person begins employment or a term as port commissioner.
Sec. 10. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. (a) The port commission shall
appoint an executive director of the authority. The port
commission shall prescribe the duties and compensation of the
executive director. The port commission may delegate to the
executive director full authority to manage and operate the affairs
of the authority subject only to orders of the port commission.
(b) The port commission shall delegate to the executive
director the authority to employ all persons necessary for the
proper handling of the business and operation of the authority and
to determine the compensation to be paid to all employees, other
than the executive director.
(c) The executive director shall execute a bond for $10,000
conditioned on the faithful performance of the executive director's
duties and other conditions as required by the authority. The bond
must be recorded in a record kept for that purpose in the
authority's office.
(d) The port commission by general or special rule,
regulation, order, resolution, or other direction may authorize the
executive director or another person authorized to act instead of
the executive director to perform any act on behalf of the port
commission.
Sec. 11. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT; ETHICS POLICY. (a) A port
commissioner or an authority employee should not:
(1) accept or solicit any gift, favor, or service that
might reasonably tend to influence the port commissioner or
employee in the discharge of official duties or that the port
commissioner or employee knows or should know is being offered with
the intent to influence the port commissioner's or employee's
official conduct;
(2) accept other employment or engage in a business or
professional activity that the port commissioner or employee might
reasonably expect would require or induce the port commissioner or
employee to disclose confidential information acquired by reason of
the official position;
(3) accept other employment or compensation that could
reasonably be expected to impair the port commissioner's or
employee's independence of judgment in the performance of the port
commissioner's or employee's official duties;
(4) make personal investments that could reasonably be
expected to create a substantial conflict between the port
commissioner's or employee's private interest and the public
interest; or
(5) intentionally or knowingly solicit, accept, or
agree to accept any benefit for having exercised the port
commissioner's or employee's official powers or performed the port
commissioner's or employee's official duties in favor of another.
(b) The port commission shall adopt a written ethics policy
for the port commissioners and authority employees consistent with
the standards prescribed by Subsection (a) of this section.
Sec. 12. ETHICS AFFIRMATION AND HOTLINE. (a) A port
commissioner or an authority employee shall annually affirm the
port commissioner's or employee's adherence to the ethics policy
adopted under Section 11(b) of this Act.
(b) The port commission shall establish and operate a
telephone hotline that enables a person to call the hotline number,
anonymously or not anonymously, to report alleged fraud, waste, or
abuse or an alleged violation of the ethics policy adopted under
Section 11(b) of this Act.
Sec. 13. COMPLAINTS. (a) The authority shall maintain a
system to promptly and efficiently act on complaints filed with the
authority. The authority shall maintain information about parties
to the complaint, the subject matter of the complaint, a summary of
the results of the review or investigation of the complaint, and its
disposition.
(b) The authority shall make information available to the
public, including on the authority's website, describing its
procedures for complaint investigation and resolution.
(c) The authority periodically shall notify the complaint
parties of the status of the complaint until final disposition.
(d) The authority shall develop a standard form and a
procedure for submitting complaints to the authority and shall make
that form and procedure available on the authority's website. The
authority shall also make available on its website clear
information about what a person making a complaint should expect
after the complaint is filed, including timelines for response and
resolution.
(e) The authority shall compile detailed statistics and
analyze trends on complaint information, including:
(1) the nature of the complaints;
(2) the disposition of the complaints; and
(3) the length of time to resolve complaints.
(f) Authority staff shall report the information compiled
under Subsection (e) of this section to senior management as
designated by the executive director and the port commission on a
regular basis.
Sec. 14. WHISTLEBLOWER POLICY. The port commission shall
adopt a whistleblower policy consistent with Chapter 554,
Government Code.
Sec. 15. PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT FUND. (a) In this
section, "promotion and development fund" means a fund created and
managed under Subchapter H, Chapter 60, Water Code.
(b) The port commission shall adopt clear, complete policy
and procedures to govern the use of the promotion and development
fund. The policy and procedures must include:
(1) provisions limiting acceptable uses of promotion
and development fund money to uses with a direct tie to the mission
of the authority;
(2) a consistent budget process;
(3) a process for requesting sponsorship funds by port
commissioners, authority employees, and outside groups;
(4) an approval process for each type of expenditure
from the promotion and development fund, including:
(A) the level of approval or notification
required for authority employees, applicable task forces, and the
port commission; and
(B) a requirement that each approved expenditure
must include a description of:
(i) the expected impact of the expenditure;
and
(ii) how the expenditure is consistent with
the strategic direction for promotion and development fund money as
adopted by the port commission;
(5) a procedure for handling exceptions to the policy,
including a requirement that an exception be subject to the same
reporting requirements as other approved expenditures from the
promotion and development fund;
(6) a provision for evaluating the policy's
effectiveness and having the port commission adopt updates to the
policy as needed at regularly scheduled public meetings; and
(7) requirements for regular tracking of all
expenditures from the promotion and development fund and reporting
of the expenditures to the port commission and to the public by
making the reports available on the authority's website.
(c) A report described by Subsection (b)(7) of this section
must include detailed information about:
(1) travel by port commissioners;
(2) special uses of the authority's resources,
including the use of any public tour vessels and the associated
costs, sorted by authority division;
(3) sponsorship and similar spending; and
(4) total expenditures from the promotion and
development fund, including year-to-date summary information by
category of expenditure.
Sec. 16. BUDGET. The port commission annually shall adopt a
budget for the authority in an open meeting.
Sec. 17. PLANNING. (a) In this section, "staff" means one
or more authority employees and does not include a port
commissioner.
(b) Appropriate staff shall develop a long-range plan
containing:
(1) a mission and values statement;
(2) an assessment of the authority's state as of the
date of the plan;
(3) an assessment of the projected operating
environment over the course of the long-range plan;
(4) a discussion of high-level goals, strategies, and
priorities;
(5) a scheme for ongoing evaluation of progress toward
stated goals, including performance measures; and
(6) other strategic planning elements, as considered
appropriate by the staff or port commission.
(c) The port commission shall establish a planning horizon
of at least 10 years for the long-range plan. The staff shall
identify and collaborate with stakeholders to obtain input on the
long-range plan. The port commission may amend and shall adopt the
plan and any updates to the plan in an open meeting. The staff shall
provide annual progress updates according to performance measures
developed under Subsection (b)(5) of this section. The staff shall
present a report on the annual progress to the port commission.
(d) The staff shall complete a comprehensive reevaluation
and update of the long-range plan at least every five years, or more
frequently if the port commission finds that conditions warrant a
more frequent update.
(e) Appropriate staff shall develop a mid-range plan
consistent with the long-range plan. The mid-range plan must
include:
(1) a five-year financial forecast addressing the
financial needs and financing options of the authority for the
five-year period, with information about the relative cost of the
options;
(2) a five-year capital plan, including a preliminary
analysis and prioritization of projects; and
(3) other detailed action plans as the port commission
or staff finds necessary to achieve the goals of the mid-range plan
or long-range plan.
(f) The staff shall present the mid-range plan in an open
meeting of the port commission. The port commission is not required
to adopt a mid-range plan.
(g) Appropriate staff shall develop a one-year capital
plan, including associated financing, that is integrated with the
budget of the authority. The port commission shall adopt the
one-year capital plan in an open meeting. The port commission shall
establish and document a detailed process for the analysis and
approval of a project proposed for inclusion in the one-year
capital plan. A project may be included in the one-year capital
plan only if it is approved in accordance with that process.
Sec. 18. PUBLIC ACCESS TO BUDGET AND PLANNING INFORMATION.
(a) The port commission shall post on the authority's website and
otherwise make available to the public the authority's most
recently adopted budget and any plan adopted by the port commission
at an open meeting, including the long-range plan, mid-range plan,
one-year capital plan, and updates to that budget or those plans.
(b) The port commission may redact sensitive business
information from the plans made publicly available under this
section.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.