Includes Entities with Links to Public Education
Sunset Review Public Comments Sought
The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission is accepting public comments through January 2022 for 21 governmental entities (listed here, with links on how to participate) that are undergoing Sunset reviews this cycle. See also this review schedule.
Most of the entities being reviewed have already posted their self-evaluation reports.
Some of the entities undergoing reviews (with their ties to public education) include the:
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (the clean school bus grant program and water testing for lead in schools).
- Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), which is responsible for the oversight of juvenile justice alternative education programs (JJAEP) for students expelled for serious offenses from public schools in designated counties.Related: The U.S. Justice Department recently announced it has launched an investigation into reported sexual and physical abuse — and other mistreatment — of incarcerated juveniles at TJJD detention facilities, and Gov. Abbott, over the summer, directed the Texas Rangers to investigate similar allegations.
- Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (oversight of law enforcement and school marshals). The commission is undergoing a “limited scope” review due to Legislators, during the regular session this year, failing to take action on the Sunset review recommendations made during the last Sunset review cycle.
Some of the other agencies undergoing Sunset reviews this cycle are entities that have been blamed for the widespread electricity and natural gas outages during Winter Storm Uri last February — the Public Utility Commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
Most of the entities under Sunset review this cycle are subject to being abolished as of Sept. 1, 2023, unless they are extended (typically for another 12 years) by specific action of the Legislature before then.