State Agencies Undergo Sunset Review Process – Texas Facilities Commission
Over the past couple of months or so, I have been outlining Texas’ sunset review process. The agencies I have covered so far include the Texas Ethics Commission, the Texas Pension Review Board, the Department of Information Resources and many others. As a reminder, in order to identify and eliminate government waste, duplication and general inefficiencies in state agencies, the Texas Legislature established the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission in 1977. The sunset review process is designed to review each of these agencies every twelve years. This review is done by taking up a certain number of the state agencies each session when the Texas Legislature convenes.
In last week’s article we examined the Texas Pension Review Board which is tasked with providing the oversight of the Texas public retirement systems. In addition, the Board reviews both state and local government pension retirement systems with respect to their actuarial soundness and compliance with state laws. In this week’s article, we are going to review the Texas Facilities Commission.
The Texas Facilities Commission was originally created in 1919 by the 36th Texas Legislature as the State Board of Control. The State Board of Control was then replaced in 1979 by the State Purchasing and General Services Commission. In 1991 the agency again underwent a name change to become the General Services Commission. The agency maintained this name until 2001 when the 77th Texas Legislature abolished the General Service Commission and replaced it with the Texas Building and Procurement Commission. In 2007 the Texas Legislature removed the agency’s statewide procurement function and renamed it the Texas Facilities Commission. As you can see, since the agency’s initial creation in 1919, the agency has under gone multiple name changes and has had its duties and responsibilities changed and transferred to and from other state agencies.
Today, the Texas Facilities Commission is tasked with and responsible for over 100 state agencies, located in roughly more than 290 cities throughout the State of Texas. They provide for the planning, provision and management of these agencies’ facilities. Currently, the Texas Facilities Commission is responsible for over 28.4 million square feet of leased and state owned facilities which support approximately 62,000 state employees. The expense associated with the maintenance and operation of these spaces cost roughly $230 million dollars annually. In Corpus Christi, the Texas Facilities Commission is responsible for the Carlos F. Truan National Resource Center which is a state owned building.
The Texas Facilities Commission is overseen by a board composed of seven commissioners. Three of the Commissioners are appointed by the Texas Governor, two are chosen from a list of nominees provided by the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives to the Texas Governor, and two are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor. The day to day operations of the agency are overseen by the executive director who employs staff and discharges the duties and responsibilities of the agency as directed by the board or Texas statute.
If you are interested in learning more about the Texas Facilities Commission, you can go to their website at https://www.tfc.state.tx.us/.
Some of the other agencies we will review in the upcoming weeks include the State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee, Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner and a number of other agencies currently going through a partial sunset review process.
If you would like to learn more on your own about the Sunset Advisory Commission or other agencies undergoing the sunset review process, you can go to www.sunset.state.tx.us .
If you have any questions regarding the Texas Facilities Commission or the sunset review process, please don’t hesitate to contact either my Capitol or District office. My offices are available at any time to assist with questions, concerns or comments (Capitol Office, 512-463-0672; District Office, 361-949-4603).
