Contract Workforce Requirements

Overview

The General Appropriations Act (Act) placed requirements on state agencies and institutions of higher education (agencies) regarding the execution of contracts for expending funds to pay for a “contract workforce.”

Note: This rider was removed from the General Appropriations Act by the 80th Legislature.

History by State Agencies

1. Initially adopted by the 77th Legislature in 1999 (Senate Bill 1, Article IX, Page IX-33), Section 4.07 of the Act defined a contract workforce and required agencies to:

• Develop comprehensive policies and procedures for its contract workforce,
  
  
• Examine the legal and personnel issues related to the use of a contract workforce,
  
  
• Conduct a cost benefit of its current contract workforce prior to hiring additional contract workers or amending or renewing existing contracts, and
  
  
• Document why and how the use of contract workers fit into agency staffing strategies, including consideration of agency mission, goals and objectives, existing and future employee skills needed, compensation costs, productivity, nature of services provided and workload.
  
  
• Agencies were required to consult the Best Practices and Guidelines for Effectively Using a Contract Workforce (Report Number 99-326) (.pdf) developed by the State Auditor’s Office when planning for and implementing the requirements of Section 4.07.

2. In 2005, the 79th Legislature modified Section 4.07 (Senate Bill 1, Article IX, Page IX-23), eliminating the annual reporting requirement to the Legislative Budget Board, the State Auditor’s Office and the Governor’s Office.
   
   
3. In 2007, the 80th Legislature removed this rider from the General Appropriations Act.