Agency functions are guided by a strategic plan which outlines four goals. The first goal is to ensure that Texas state bonds attain the highest possible bond rating and that these bonds are issued in the most cost-effective manner possible. Agency initiatives to accomplish this goal include the creation of debt issuing guidelines, review of state debt issuance, and statewide capital planning. The board reviews and approves certain bonds, installment sales, and lease-purchases issued by state debt issuers with a principal greater than $250,000 or a term greater than five years. This oversight role is exercised as a final step before the bonds go to market. The agency collects, analyzes, and reports all state debt. The agency's second goal is to ensure that public officials and the general public have access to current information regarding local government debt. The agency collects, maintains, and analyzes the status of local government debt and reports findings to the legislature, other state officials, and local policy makers. The agency's third goal is to ensure that the authorization for Texas state and local entities to issue private activity bonds is allocated consistently with legislative mandates in the most equitable manner possible and in the best interest of the people of Texas. The federal Tax Reform Act of 1986 requires the allocation of private activity bond issuance authority because it sets a per capita limit on the use of tax-exempt bonds for private activities. Although the legislature is responsible for setting priorities and mandates of the Private Activity Bond Allocation Program, the agency drafts administrative rules and guidelines for processing and reviewing applications for the state's private activity bonds. The agency's fourth goal is to establish and carry out policies governing purchasing and contracting that will foster meaningful and substantive inclusion of historically underutilized businesses (HUBs).
