Contributed by - Tony Slagle – Deputy Executive Director
Many of you know the Agency has been undergoing a review by the staff of the Sunset Advisory Commission. Sunset staff finished their review of the Agency and published their Staff Report on October 2, which is available for anyone to review on the Sunset Commission’s website. After publication of the Sunset staff report, the Agency has the opportunity to respond to the findings and recommendation contained in that report. In preparation for drafting the Agency’s response, TREC and TALCB held a joint public meeting in Austin on October 12. After extensive discussion at this meeting, the formal written Agency response was approved by the Commission and Board and was provided to the Sunset Commission on October 16.
Read the full response, which has been published on the Sunset Commission website.
This is not the end of the Sunset review process. The Sunset Commission wants to hear from the Agency’s license holders and the public. Information on how you can submit written comments to the Sunset Commission regarding the Sunset staff report and the Agency response is available on the Sunset Commission website.
The Sunset Commission will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, to discuss both the Sunset staff recommendations and the Agency’s response and to take public testimony related to each. Both the Sunset staff and the Agency will testify and answer questions from the Commissioners. Members of the public and other stakeholders are also able to testify. At a second public Sunset Commission meeting scheduled for December 12 and 13, 2018, the Commission members will vote on whether or not to implement or modify the recommendations in the report.
Once the Sunset Commission votes to finalize its recommendations for the Agency, a bill will be drafted based on those recommendations and that bill will be filed during the 2019 legislative session. This agency “Sunset” bill will then go through the same process as any other bill before the legislature. Please check the Sunset Commission website for the latest information on specific dates and agendas for public meetings. As always, we encourage you to take an active role in this process.