State Agencies Undergo Sunset Review Process – State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee
Over the past couple of months or so, I have been outlining Texas’ sunset review process. Some of the agencies I have covered so far include the Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner, 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 Office of Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner which is tasked with helping local fire departments by administering their local pension plans and by helping to oversee their operations. In this week’s article, we are going to review the State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee.
The State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee was first established by the 73rd Texas Legislature in 1993. In 1994 the State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee launched its first campaign and through the kindness and generosity of state employees was able to raise over two million dollars. Since that time and through the continued help and support of countless state employees, the campaign raised and was able to donate to charitable organizations over nine million dollars in 2011 alone. It may come as no surprise to many of you but the Texas employee campaign is one of the largest of its kind in the nation.
The State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee is governed both on the state and local levels. The state and local level committees guarantee that the campaigns are performed fairly and equitably with a strict set of guidelines that provides donors with confidence in regard to the charities that benefit and the manner in which donations are solicited.
On the state level, a committee composed of state employees is called the State Policy Committee. This committee provides both oversight and governance. The committee is composed of ten members, four of whom are appointed by the Texas Governor, three by the Lieutenant Governor and three by the Comptroller of Public Accounts. The committee has that ultimate responsibility of establishing a campaign plan, an overall budget, and guaranteeing the eligibility of statewide organizations. In addition to these responsibilities, the State Policy Committee is also responsible for hiring a state campaign manager who is responsible for administering the campaign.
On the local level, there are Local Employee Committees which provide similar oversight as the State Policy Committee. The Local Employee Committees are generally composed of ten members, with the Chair being appointed by the State Employee Committee and the members being recruited by the Chair. The Local Employee Committees are responsible for hiring a local campaign manager which administers the campaign locally.
If you are interested in learning more about the State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee, you can go to their website at https://www.secctexas.org/. On their website you can learn about the many charities which receive donations from the State Employee Charitable Campaign Policy Committee along with those located in the Coastal Bend.
Some of the other agencies we will review in the coming weeks will include a number of agencies currently going through a partial sunset review process. Those agencies include the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
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 .
