By: Hartnett H.B. No. 4126
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the construction of nonsubstantive codifications and
revisions of statutes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 22.001(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction, except in
criminal law matters, coextensive with the limits of the state and
extending to all questions of law arising in the following cases
when they have been brought to the courts of appeals from appealable
judgment of the trial courts:
(1) a case in which the justices of a court of appeals
disagree on a question of law material to the decision;
(2) a case in which one of the courts of appeals holds
differently from a prior decision of another court of appeals or of
the supreme court on a question of law material to a decision of the
case;
(3) subject to Section 22.0011, a case involving the
construction or validity of a statute necessary to a determination
of the case;
(4) a case involving state revenue;
(5) a case in which the railroad commission is a party;
and
(6) any other case in which it appears that an error of
law has been committed by the court of appeals, and that error is of
such importance to the jurisprudence of the state that, in the
opinion of the supreme court, it requires correction, but excluding
those cases in which the jurisdiction of the court of appeals is
made final by statute.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 22.0011 to read as follows:
Sec. 22.0011. JURISDICTION REGARDING NONSUBSTANTIVE
REVISIONS. (a) This section applies to the exercise of the supreme
court's jurisdiction under Section 22.001(a)(3) if:
(1) the statute at issue in the case was enacted by the
legislature under the direction of Article III, Section 43, Texas
Constitution;
(2) the legislature declared in the Act that enacted
the statute at issue that the purpose of the enactment was to codify
or revise without substantive change statutes that individually
relate to different subjects; and
(3) the statute was prepared for the legislature's
consideration by the Texas Legislative Council under the authority
granted to the council by Section 323.007.
(b) The codification or revision of a statute to which this
section applies does not affect the meaning or effect of the
statute.
(c) In interpreting and applying a codified or revised
statute to which this section applies, the supreme court shall give
the statute the same effect and meaning that was or would have been
given the statute before its codification or revision,
notwithstanding the repeal of the prior statute and regardless of
any omission or change in the codified or revised statute that the
supreme court would otherwise find to be direct, unambiguous, and
irreconcilable with the prior version of the statute. Any omission
or change in the codified or revised statute for which the court
finds no direct express evidence of legislative intent to change
the sense, meaning, or effect of the statute shall be considered to
be unintended and shall be given no effect.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 311, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 311.033 to read as follows:
Sec. 311.033. INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION OF
NONSUBSTANTIVE REVISIONS. (a) This section applies to the
interpretation or application by a court, executive branch agency,
or other entity of a statute enacted by the legislature of this
state if:
(1) the statute at issue in the case was enacted by the
legislature under the direction of Article III, Section 43, Texas
Constitution;
(2) the legislature declared in the Act that enacted
the statute at issue that the purpose of the enactment was to codify
or revise without substantive change statutes that individually
relate to different subjects; and
(3) the statute was prepared for the legislature's
consideration by the Texas Legislative Council under the authority
granted to the council by Section 323.007.
(b) The codification or revision of a statute to which this
section applies does not affect the meaning or effect of the
statute.
(c) In interpreting and applying a codified or revised
statute to which this section applies, the court, executive branch,
or other entity shall give the statute the same effect and meaning
that was or would have been given the statute before its
codification or revision, notwithstanding the repeal of the prior
statute and regardless of any omission or change in the codified or
revised statute that the court, executive branch, or other entity
would otherwise find to be direct, unambiguous, and irreconcilable
with the prior version of the statute. Any omission or change in
the codified or revised statute for which the court, executive
branch, or other entity finds no direct express evidence of
legislative intent to change the sense, meaning, or effect of the
statute shall be considered to be unintended and shall be given no
effect.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.