SB 165

Present law provides that the chief elected public officials of various counties or cities of the economic development districts are empowered to create a human resource agency. The four metropolitan human resource agencies created under present law are Memphis-Shelby, Nashville-Davidson, Knoxville-Knox, and Chattanooga-Hamilton, and there can be no more than nine rural human resource agencies, coterminous with the boundary lines of the development districts. Present law authorizes the governing boards of such agencies to (i) adopt bylaws, (ii) appoint an executive director, (iii) determine major personnel, fiscal, and program policies, (iv) approve overall program plans and priorities, (v) assure compliance with conditions of and approve proposals for financial assistance under present law, (vi) jointly adopt statewide uniform travel regulations and reimburse the governing board's officers and employees for official travel in conformance with such regulation s, (vii) develop a system of competitive bidding on purchases of supplies and equipment, and other contracts, and submit the written procedures governing the system to the state procurement commission for approval, and (viii) develop written personnel proce dures. Present law provides that any funds appropriated for such human resource agencies are subject to the approval of the governor and the commissioner of finance and administration. Such approval must be given only after review by the office of the governor of the annual work program developed by the human resource agency to assure that such program is in accordance with the development plans of the state. After the creation of a governing board and when the local governments have indicated a willingness t o contribute financially by adopting a budget requiring a certain per capita assessment, the state is authorized to match the local contributions to the following schedule: Local Assessment Annual State Contribution Cents/ Capita Contribution Cap/County 1-5 $40,000 $7,500 6-10 $70,000 $7,500 11-14 $100,000 $10,000 16-20 $150,000 $12,500 This bill revises the contribution schedule to, instead, be the following: Local Assessment Annual State Cents/ Capita Contribution 1-20 $295,000 21-30 $340,000 31 and over $370,000