None.
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
None.
The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission was created by the Texas Sunset
Act, Senate Bill 54, 65th Legislature, Regular Session, in 1977. The Sunset Act
is a comprehensive law that provides for automatic termination of state
agencies that have a date for review or abolishment set in statute. The act
forces the state government to evaluate its activities periodically and to
abolish, or to allow the
The Sunset Advisory Commission reviews all agencies scheduled for termination in a particular year by gathering self-evaluation reports from the agencies, conducting public hearings, and preparing reports to the legislature with recommendations to continue or abolish the agencies. If the commission recommends continuing an agency, it must also provide draft legislation that continues the agency's operations and corrects any problems identified during the review.
The statute sets specific time frames for the review process and lists thirteen criteria for determining whether a need for the agency exists. Both the agency's self-evaluation report to the commission and the commission's final report to the legislature must address each of these criteria. The criteria include the agency's efficiency of operation, the extent to which statutory objectives have been achieved, the extent to which existing advisory committees are needed and used, the extent of duplication or overlapping jurisdictions and possibilities for consolidation with other agencies, and an assessment of whether the agency has recommended statutory changes that benefit the general public rather than the regulated entity. Other criteria include the promptness and effectiveness with which the agency handles complaints, the extent to which the agency has encouraged participation by the public, the extent of compliance with federal and state requirements regarding equality of employment opportunity and the rights and privacy of individuals, compliance with the Public Information Act and Open Meetings Act, and the degree to which the agency conforms to its six-year strategic plan.
The commission's report on an agency must include a recommendation to abolish or continue the agency and may also contain recommendations to correct problems identified during the review. The statute requires the commission to follow-up on agencies that were continued after sunset review to determine whether they have implemented any recommended changes. The commission may also expand the scope of sunset review to include agencies not under review that overlap or duplicate the programs of the agency being reviewed.
In 1985, House Bill 1583, 69th Legislature, Regular Session, was
enacted, requiring the commission to comment on the proposed creation of
regulatory agencies or advisory committees. In this
The policy-making body of the agency is a ten-member commission. Membership of the commission consists of four state senators and one public member appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and four members of the House of Representatives and one public member appointed by the Speaker of the House. Public members serve two-year terms, and legislative members serve four-year terms staggered so that half the membership from each house expires every two years.
The staff of the Sunset Advisory Commission is divided into three sections: review projects, administrative services, and support projects. The agency is administered through a director and an assistant director.
Governor William P. Clements established the Task Force on Public Utility Regulation through Executive Order WPC-89-6 on July 25, 1989. The Sunset Advisory Commission provided clerical support to the task force. This staff support was outside the normal duties of the commission as defined by its statutory authorization, V.T.C.A. Government Code, Chapter 325. A series of public hearings were held by the task force, with assistance from Sunset Advisory Commission staff, to receive comments from interests concerned with public utility regulation. After the task force issued its final report, its records remained at the offices of the Sunset Advisory Commission.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Medicaid Liens and Estate Recovery was appointed March 24, 1988 by Representative Jack Vowell, chair of the Sunset Advisory Commission, to examine the estate recovery policy for Medicaid expenditures laid out in Senate Bill 298, 70th Legislature, 1987 (enacted in response to Sunset staff recommendations in 1986), to determine whether it was good public policy and benefited the state, and to develop specific recommendations for rules or implementation for use by the Texas Department of Human Services. The committee reported to the Sunset Advisory Commission in June 1988.
(Sources include: the appraisal report prepared by State Archives
staff (February 1996, revised November 1999); Guide to Texas State Agencies,
11th ed. (2001); the agency's website,
The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission reviews state agencies subject to the Texas Sunset Act to determine if the agencies are providing necessary services in an effective manner, and if the agencies or functions should be continued, abolished, or modified. Records of the commission are meeting minutes, agenda, voting sheets, roll calls, lists of witnesses, decision materials, reports, correspondence, memoranda, legislative bills, bill analyses, notes, charts, newsletters, press releases, transcripts, recommendations, and budget requests of the commission, 1977-2005. Summary documentation of the agency can be found in the series of meeting minutes and agenda. The decision material series documents the decisions made by commissioners to accept or reject recommendations concerning a state agency made by the public and commission staff. Self-evaluation reports are compiled by each state agency under sunset review and contain an overview of the agency's background and policy issues. The sunrise process files provide staff analysis regarding the need for new regulatory agencies and advisory committees as proposed by legislators. Director's correspondence documents the outgoing communications of the executive director of the agency, especially with the members of the Sunset Advisory Commission. Commission appointments provide names and information for those individuals appointed to the commission by the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House. The budget requests present the proposed budget and request appropriations from the Legislature. The final report of the Task Force on Public Utility Regulation provides summary information concerning the involvement of the commission in carrying out the duties of the task force. Minutes and related materials of the Commission's Ad Hoc Committee on Medicaid Liens and Estate Recovery examine the estate recovery policy for Medicaid expenditures in Senate Bill 298, 70th Legislature and recommend rules and guidelines for use by the Texas Department of Human Services. Transcripts detail testimony from members of the public and staff of agencies under review during the sunset review process. Press releases publicize commission meetings and other activities. The Sunset Advisory Commission uses across-the-board recommendations to improve consistency among agencies' enabling statutes.
These records are organized into 11 series (seven as received from the commission in accordance with its retention schedule, the last four organized by State Archives staff from materials received from the Legislative Reference Library):
(Identify the item and cite the series), Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Texas State Archives staff completed an appraisal of Sunset Advisory Commission records in February 1996. Fourteen series on the agency's retention schedule were determined to be archival: Self-Evaluation Reports, Budget Requests, Meeting Minutes, Organizational Charts, Sunrise Process, Commission Appointments, Policies and Procedures Manual, Special Legislative Projects--Final Report, Staff Reports, Final Report, Summary of Final Report, Decision Material, Executive Director's Correspondence, and Strategic Plans. The appraisal report was revised in November 1999 to eliminate strategic plans, which the commission, as a legislative agency, does not create. The report is available in the State Archives search room.
Four series received from the Legislative Reference Library have not been appraised: Press releases, Ad Hoc Study Committee on Medicaid Liens and Estate Recovery minutes, Transcripts, and Across-the-board recommendations.
Paul Beck, February 1998
Tonia J. Wood, November 1999, January 2002, June 2006
Accession numbers: 1997/083, 1998/028, 2000/049, 2000/063, 2000/066, 2002/057, 2002/073, 2002/149, 2003/197, 2004/167, 2006/359, 2006/373
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission on February 21, 1997; October 21, 1997; October 21, 1999; November 9, 1999; October 30, 2001; November 8, 2001; August 27, 2003; May 8, 2006; and June 6, 2006; by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission via the Texas Documents Collection, Texas State Library and Archives Commission on November 4, 1999; and by the Legislative Reference Library on July 15, 2002 and June 10, 2004.
Electronic copies of some Sunset Advisory Commission records,
including minutes, agenda, self-evaluation reports, staff reports, decision
material, guide to sunset process, final report, and summary of final report,
are available on
Minutes and agenda for the Sunset Advisory Commission are available at the agency.
Records are generally received biennially after each round of sunset review.
Meeting minutes document the meetings of the Sunset Advisory
Commission commissioners and their evaluation of state agencies undergoing
sunset review. These records include minutes, agenda, roll calls, lists of
witnesses, voting sheets, decision materials, agency background testimony,
public testimony summaries, Status Report on Combination Alternatives and
Diversion Alternatives, correspondence, summaries of sunset overview meetings,
issues and questions raised by Sunset Commission members, press releases, and a
resolution concerning the meetings of the commissioners of the Texas Sunset
Advisory Commission. Dates covered are 1977-2005. The major function of the
commissioners during their meetings is to evaluate the state agencies subject
to sunset review. To accomplish that, the commissioners consider the
recommendations in the Sunset Commission staff report regarding the future
functions and programs of an agency. The commissioners also review public
testimony and written responses to the recommendations in the staff report. The
commissioners then decide which recommendations to include in their final
report and present to the Legislature for approval. The minutes up until the
late 1980s included summaries of testimony from the state agencies and public
comments from interested groups and individuals on specific recommendations. In
recent years, however, the coverage of the minutes has decreased and the
summaries of testimony are no longer in the minutes. Decision materials were
filed with the minutes from 1982 to 1984. Later decision materials are located
in the series
Minutes received from the Legislative Reference Library contain some additional documents. Researchers should check each set of minutes.
Arrangement is chronological, with minutes received from the agency grouped by legislative session, then by date of meeting as maintained by and received from the agency. Volumes received from the Legislative Reference Library have been added to the folder list by State Archives staff based on the last meeting date in the volume. (Decision materials used by the commissioners in acting upon staff recommendations were inter-filed with the minutes by Sunset Commission staff from November 1982 through November 1984.)
(Identify the item), Meeting minutes, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession numbers: 1998/028, 2000/049, 2002/057, 2002/149, 2003/197, 2004/167, 2006/359
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission on October 21, 1997; October 21, 1999; October 30, 2001; August 27, 2003; and May 8, 2006; and by the Legislative Reference Library on July 15, 2002 and June 10, 2004.
Paul Beck, February 1998
Tonia J. Wood, November 1999, January 2002, June 2006
Self-evaluation reports and decision materials are the archival portion of the agency review files created by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission during the sunset review process. The self-evaluation report is intended to give the Sunset Commission members and staff a general understanding of the agency and its purpose. It is used by the Sunset staff in drafting the background section of the staff evaluation report on the agency. The report is also intended to give the Sunset Commission a basic overview of the major policy issues, including both the pros and the cons, appropriate for resolution through a change of law. Decision materials summarize proposed recommendations concerning agencies undergoing sunset review by the Sunset Commission staff to the Sunset Advisory commissioners, for possible inclusion in final reports to the Legislature. Included with the self-evaluation reports and decision materials are some cover letters, vote sheets, notes, and other attachments. Records date 1977-1994.
Self-evaluation reports, 1977-1993, are prepared and written by state agencies undergoing sunset review. The reports are submitted to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission to provide a general understanding of the agency and its purpose. A self-evaluation report is comprised of four major sections: background, policy issues, additional data, and comments (optional). The background section provides a brief overview of the agency's history, creation and powers, policy-making body, funding and organization, and programs. Policy issues provide a narrative assessment of individual issues of importance as identified by the agency. Additional data can include a list of advisory committees, statutory citations for all state statutes that grant authority or significantly impact the agency, other agency liaisons, interest groups, national associations, and complaint resolution.
Additional self-evaluation reports are available in the Texas
Documents Collection, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State
Library and Archives Commission (located in Room 300 of the State Archives and
Library Building). To determine most, if not all, self-evaluation report
holdings by the Texas Documents Collection, use the library's on-line public
access catalog SIRSI WebCat at
Decision materials (called decision sheets in 1982, 1984, and into
1986), dating 1984-1994, include proposed recommendations from Sunset
Commission staff for agencies undergoing sunset review, compilations of
testimony and written responses from public hearings regarding the staff
recommendations, proposed legislation and amendments, memos and notes of staff
and commissioners, and commissioner voting sheets. During the sunset review of
an agency, the Sunset Advisory Commission staff gathers background information
and prepares a detailed report with specific recommendations that is presented
to the Sunset commissioners and to the public for consideration. Testimony and
written responses regarding those recommendations are taken at public hearings
and the staff compiles a synopsis of the comments for the commission. The
commission then considers the staff recommendations along with the public
comments and approves or disapproves the recommendations they will present to
the Legislature for adoption. These records are from that decision-making
process of the commissioners. Only recommendations adopted by the commissioners
are included in the Sunset Commission's final report on the agency and
submitted to the Legislature. Decision materials apparently were first created
in 1982. For additional decision materials from 1982 and 1984, see the
Arrangement is alphabetical by agency name as maintained by and received from the Sunset Commission. Within each agency, self-evaluation reports are filed first followed by decision materials.
(Identify the item), Self-evaluation reports and decision materials, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession numbers: 1998/028, 2000/049, 2000/063, 2002/057, 2003/197, 2006/359
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission on October 21, 1997; October 21, 1999; October 30, 2001; August 27, 2003; and May 8, 2006; and by the Texas Documents Collection, Texas State Library and Archives Commission on November 4, 1999.
Paul Beck, February 1998
Tonia J. Wood, November 1999, January 2002, June 2006
Sunrise process files are created by the Sunset Advisory Commission to oversee and maintain the sunrise process, which is a program to ensure that the creation of unnecessary or overlapping regulatory agencies and advisory committees is avoided. The sunrise process enables the Legislature to use the commission's experience in considering the need for regulatory agencies. Records are legislative bills, correspondence, memoranda, bill analyses, notes, charts, newsletters, and reports, dating 1982-1991, bulk 1987-1989, concerning the sunrise process carried out by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. In 1985, House Bill 1583, 69th Legislature, Regular Session, was passed which required the commission to comment on the proposed creation of regulatory agencies or advisory committees. In this sunrise process, the commission reviews proposed legislation creating new agencies and sends a written response to the bill's author and to the chair of the committee hearing the bill. These files mainly cover bills proposed in the 70th and 71st Legislatures.
General files are first followed by additional files are arranged alphabetically by agency name as maintained by and received from the agency.
(Identify the item), Sunrise process files, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2000/049
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission on October 21, 1999.
Tonia J. Wood, November 1999, January 2002
Director's correspondence documents the outgoing communications of the executive director of the agency, especially with the members of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. These records are copies of outgoing correspondence and memoranda including attachments of directors of the Sunset Advisory Commission Bill Wells, dating 1985-1989, and Joey Longley, dating 1997-2001. Attachments to Wells' correspondence include a few incoming letters, copies of legislation, recommendations, memoranda, a manual, and suggested remarks on higher education. The series mainly contains correspondence signed by the director and sent to the agency's ten member policy-making body regarding the sunset review process. Some of the correspondence with the commissioners concerns routine administrative matters such as setting meetings and providing copies of reports and updates on the biennial process, but other is policy-related, concerning the sunset review process in general or dealing with specific agencies. Issues receiving more than routine mention in the correspondence include the sunset review of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation, higher education, and community corrections. Correspondents include the lieutenant governor, commission members, and other state senators and representatives on committees overseeing agencies that are under sunset review.
These records are arranged chronologically by legislative session as maintained by and received from the agency.
(Identify the item) Director's correspondence, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession numbers: 2002/057, 2006/359
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission on October 30, 2001 and May 8, 2006.
Tonia J. Wood, January 2002, June 2006
Commission appointment records notify the commission director and the public of appointments to the Sunset Advisory Commission. Materials are letters and press releases, 1983-2005, concerning appointments to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. The commission is composed of four state senators and one public member appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and four state representatives and one public member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Letters from the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker notify the appointees and director of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission of new commission members. Press releases from the offices of the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker provide the information to the media and the public.
Records are in reverse chronological order within each folder as maintained by and received from the agency.
(Identify the item), Commission appointments, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2000/049, 2002/073, 2006/359, 2006/373
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission on October 21, 1999; November 8, 2001; May 8, 2006; and June 6, 2006.
Tonia J. Wood, November 1999, January 2002, June 2006
Biennial budget requests present the proposed budget and request appropriations from the Legislature. The records are budget requests, dated January 1993, November 1994, and 1996, from the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, consisting of one-page statements submitted biennially to the Legislative Budget Board. Previously, appropriations for the Sunset Advisory Commission had been included in the overall appropriations for the Legislature. The one-page budget request consists of types of expenses and then columns of figures for the funds expended during the past two or three years, budgeted funds for the current year, and requested funds for the next two years. Expenses include salary requirements, professional fees, travel, operating expenses, master lease purchase, and capital outlay. There is no narrative description of agency programs or justification given for the amounts requested.
These records are arranged chronologically as received from the agency.
(Identify the item), Budget requests, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2000/066, 2002/073, 2006/373
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission on November 9, 1999; November 8, 2001; and June 6, 2006.
Tonia J. Wood, November 1999, January 2002, June 2006
This special legislative project final report was created to
summarize the work and the recommendations of the Task Force on Public Utility
Regulation and to fulfill its executive order in presenting a final written
report to the governor and legislature. The Sunset Advisory Commission kept a
copy of the report because the commission provided administrative support to
the task force outside the scope of its statutory duties. This record consists
of a copy of one report:
(Identify the item), Special legislative projects-final report, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 1997/083
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission on February 21, 1997.
Paul Beck, February 1998
The Ad Hoc Committee on Medicaid Liens and Estate Recovery was appointed March 24, 1988 by Representative Jack Vowell, chair of the Sunset Advisory Commission, to examine the estate recovery policy for Medicaid expenditures laid out in Senate Bill 298, 70th Legislature, 1987 (enacted in response to Sunset staff recommendations in 1986), to determine whether it was good public policy and benefited the state, and to develop specific recommendations for rules or implementation for use by the Texas Department of Human Services. The committee reported to the Sunset Advisory Commission in June 1988. Records include memoranda, agenda, reports, schedules, legislation (including other states'), rules, laws, correspondence, information on Senate Bill 298, minutes, clippings, testimony, and related materials, dating 1986-1988, bulk 1988, created or gathered by the Ad Hoc Committee concerning the need for Medicaid-supported nursing home care in Texas and the use of liens to recover expenditures from estates of nursing home Medicaid recipients.
These records are arranged chronologically by meeting date as bound by the Legislative Reference Library. A separate folder contains two items not bound with the bulk of the records.
(Identify the item), Ad Hoc Study Committee on Medicaid Liens and Estate Recovery minutes, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession numbers: 2002/149, 2004/167
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Legislative Reference Library on July 15, 2002 and June 10, 2004.
Tonia J. Wood, June 2006
Sunset Advisory Commission members heard testimony from members of the public and staff of agencies under review during the sunset review process. Records are transcripts from meetings of the commission, 1978 and 1980. Agencies discussed in the transcripts include the Board of Dental Examiners, Social Psychotherapy Board, Board for Licensure for Nursing Home Administrators, Board of County and District Road Indebtedness, Board of Registration for Public Surveyors, Board of Examiners of Licensed State Land Surveyors, Private Employment Regulatory Board, Board of Architectural Examiners, Burial Association Rate Board, Board of Landscape Architects, and Battleship Texas Commission.
These records are arranged chronologically by meeting date as received from the Legislative Reference Library.
(Identify the item), Transcripts, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2002/149
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Legislative Reference Library on July 15, 2002.
Tonia J. Wood, June 2006
Press releases publicize meetings and other activities of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. Records are press releases, 1980-1995, the bulk providing notification of commission and Ad Hoc Committee on Medicaid Liens and Estate Recovery meetings. One release lists commission members and a proposed schedule (1983); another provides information on a pension increase proposal for retired teachers (1995).
These records are arranged in reverse chronological order as received from the Legislative Reference Library.
(Identify the item), Press releases, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2002/149
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Legislative Reference Library on July 15, 2002.
Tonia J. Wood, June 2006
The Sunset Advisory Commission uses across-the-board recommendations to improve consistency among agencies' enabling statutes. Records are proposed new across-the-board (ATB) recommendations and revisions to existing ATBs for inclusion in sunset legislation, dating August and October 1983.
These records are arranged in reverse chronological order as received from the Legislative Reference Library.
(Identify the item), Across-the-board recommendations, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 2002/149
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Legislative Reference Library on July 15, 2002.
Tonia J. Wood, June 2006