Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB128 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R776 BEF-D
2	2	By: Solomons H.B. No. 128
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the requirement that applicants for certain licenses be
8	8	eligible for employment in the United States.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Title 2, Occupations Code, is amended by adding
11	11	Chapter 60 to read as follows:
12	12	CHAPTER 60. EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY IN UNITED STATES REQUIRED FOR
13	13	BUSINESS, OCCUPATIONAL, OR PROFESSIONAL LICENSE
14	14	Sec. 60.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
15	15	(1) "Employment eligibility" means eligibility for
16	16	employment in the United States.
17	17	(2) "License" means a license, certificate,
18	18	registration, permit, or other authorization that:
19	19	(A) is issued by a licensing authority; and
20	20	(B) an individual must obtain to engage in a
21	21	particular business, occupation, or profession.
22	22	(3) "Licensing authority" means a department,
23	23	commission, board, office, or other agency of this state or a
24	24	political subdivision of this state that issues a license.
25	25	Sec. 60.002. EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY REQUIRED. (a) An
26	26	applicant for a license must establish employment eligibility if
27	27	the applicant is:
28	28	(1) applying for an original license; or
29	29	(2) renewing a license and the applicant has not
30	30	previously established employment eligibility.
31	31	(b) The licensing authority may not issue a license to an
32	32	applicant or renew an applicant's license unless the applicant
33	33	establishes employment eligibility as required by Subsection (a).
34	34	Sec. 60.003. DOCUMENTS THAT ESTABLISH EMPLOYMENT
35	35	ELIGIBILITY. (a) To establish employment eligibility, an
36	36	applicant shall provide to the licensing authority for inspection
37	37	an original or a copy of:
38	38	(1) one of the following documents:
39	39	(A) a United States passport, unexpired or
40	40	expired;
41	41	(B) a Certificate of United States Citizenship;
42	42	(C) a Certificate of Naturalization;
43	43	(D) an unexpired foreign passport, with I-551
44	44	stamp or attached Form I-94 indicating unexpired employment
45	45	authorization;
46	46	(E) a Permanent Resident Card or Alien
47	47	Registration Receipt Card with photograph;
48	48	(F) an unexpired Temporary Resident Card;
49	49	(G) an unexpired Employment Authorization Card;
50	50	(H) an unexpired reentry permit;
51	51	(I) an unexpired Refugee Travel Document; or
52	52	(J) an unexpired Employment Authorization
53	53	Document issued by the United States Department of Homeland
54	54	Security that contains a photograph; or
55	55	(2) two documents as follows:
56	56	(A) one document listed in this paragraph:
57	57	(i) a driver's license or identification
58	58	card that is issued by a state or outlying possession of the United
59	59	States and that contains the applicant's photograph or information,
60	60	including the applicant's name, date of birth, sex, height, eye
61	61	color, and address;
62	62	(ii) an identification card that is issued
63	63	by a federal, state, or local government agency and that contains
64	64	the applicant's photograph or information, including the
65	65	applicant's name, date of birth, sex, height, eye color, and
66	66	address;
67	67	(iii) a voter registration certificate;
68	68	(iv) a United States military card or draft
69	69	record;
70	70	(v) a military dependent's identification
71	71	card;
72	72	(vi) a United States Coast Guard Merchant
73	73	Mariner Card;
74	74	(vii) a Native American tribal document; or
75	75	(viii) a driver's license issued by a
76	76	Canadian government authority; and
77	77	(B) one document listed in this paragraph:
78	78	(i) a social security card issued by the
79	79	Social Security Administration, other than a card stating it is not
80	80	valid for employment;
81	81	(ii) a Certification of Birth Abroad issued
82	82	by the United States Department of State;
83	83	(iii) an original or certified copy of a
84	84	birth certificate issued by a state, county, municipality, or
85	85	outlying possession of the United States bearing an official seal;
86	86	(iv) a Native American tribal document;
87	87	(v) a United States Citizen Identification
88	88	Card;
89	89	(vi) an Identification Card for Use of
90	90	Resident Citizen in the United States; or
91	91	(vii) an unexpired Employment
92	92	Authorization Document issued by the United States Department of
93	93	Homeland Security.
94	94	(b) In addition to the documents required by Subsection (a),
95	95	an applicant may establish employment eligibility by submitting to
96	96	the licensing authority a document verifying that the applicant
97	97	provided to their current or most recent employer a true and correct
98	98	Form I-9 along with authentic supporting documents.
99	99	(c) Except as provided by this subsection, the documents
100	100	required by Subsection (a) or (b) must be submitted with the license
101	101	application. An applicant who submits an application through the
102	102	TexasOnline system or another electronic means shall submit the
103	103	documents required under Subsection (a) or (b) not later than 30
104	104	days after the date the application is submitted electronically.
105	105	Sec. 60.004. TEMPORARY LICENSE. (a) After an applicant has
106	106	submitted all documents that will be required for a licensing
107	107	authority to verify the applicant's employment eligibility and
108	108	before the licensing authority verifies the applicant's employment
109	109	eligibility, the licensing authority may issue a temporary license
110	110	to the applicant.
111	111	(b) A temporary license under this section expires on the
112	112	21st day after the date the temporary license is issued.
113	113	(c) The licensing authority shall determine the applicant's
114	114	employment eligibility not later than the day the temporary license
115	115	expires.
116	116	Sec. 60.005. AUDIT. A licensing authority may audit some or
117	117	all of the applications submitted to the licensing authority for
118	118	compliance with this chapter, including documents used to establish
119	119	employment eligibility.
120	120	Sec. 60.006. CONFIDENTIALITY. Information provided by an
121	121	applicant under this chapter that is not subject to disclosure
122	122	under other law is confidential and not subject to disclosure under
123	123	Chapter 552, Government Code.
124	124	Sec. 60.007. NONDISCRIMINATION. A licensing authority
125	125	shall implement this chapter without regard to an applicant's race,
126	126	religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.
127	127	SECTION 2. The purpose of this Act is to assist in the
128	128	enforcement of 8 U.S.C. Chapter 12.
129	129	SECTION 3. (a) In this section:
130	130	(1) "License" means a license, certificate,
131	131	registration, permit, or other authorization that:
132	132	(A) is issued by a licensing authority; and
133	133	(B) an individual must obtain to engage in a
134	134	particular business, occupation, or profession.
135	135	(2) "Licensing authority" means a department,
136	136	commission, board, office, or other agency of this state or a
137	137	political subdivision of this state that issues a license.
138	138	(b) Each licensing authority shall adopt rules under
139	139	Chapter 60, Occupations Code, as added by this Act, not later than
140	140	January 1, 2010.
141	141	(c) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an
142	142	application for the issuance or renewal of a license that is filed
143	143	with a licensing authority on or after March 1, 2010. An
144	144	application for the issuance or renewal of a license that is filed
145	145	before March 1, 2010, is governed by the law in effect on the date
146	146	the application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
147	147	for that purpose.
148	148	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.