Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB4483 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R318 KLA-D
2	2	By: Howard of Fort Bend H.B. No. 4483
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to verifying the eligibility of applicants for federal,
8	8	state, and local public benefits; providing a criminal penalty.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Title 10, Government Code, is amended by adding
11	11	Subtitle H to read as follows:
12	12	SUBTITLE H. PROVISION OF PUBLIC BENEFITS BY STATE AND LOCAL
13	13	GOVERNMENTS
14	14	CHAPTER 2351. VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR PUBLIC BENEFITS
15	15	SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
16	16	Sec. 2351.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
17	17	(1) "Federal public benefit" has the meaning assigned
18	18	by 8 U.S.C. Section 1611.
19	19	(2) "Governmental entity" means an agency of this
20	20	state or of a political subdivision of this state.
21	21	(3) "Public benefit" means a federal, state, or local
22	22	public benefit.
23	23	(4) "State or local public benefit" has the meaning
24	24	assigned by 8 U.S.C. Section 1621.
25	25	Sec. 2351.002. CONFLICTS WITH OTHER LAW. To the extent of a
26	26	conflict between this chapter and federal law, including the
27	27	federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Pub. L. No. 109-171), the
28	28	federal law prevails.
29	29	[Sections 2351.003-2351.050 reserved for expansion]
30	30	SUBCHAPTER B. VERIFICATION OF APPLICANTS' LEGAL PRESENCE AND
31	31	ELIGIBILITY FOR PUBLIC BENEFITS
32	32	Sec. 2351.051. COMPLIANCE WITH SUBCHAPTER REQUIRED BEFORE
33	33	PROVIDING PUBLIC BENEFITS. A governmental entity may not provide a
34	34	public benefit to an individual until the governmental entity
35	35	complies with this subchapter.
36	36	Sec. 2351.052. VERIFICATION OF LAWFUL PRESENCE OF APPLICANT
37	37	FOR PUBLIC BENEFITS REQUIRED. (a) Except as provided by Section
38	38	2351.053 or federal law, a governmental entity that administers a
39	39	public benefit shall verify that an applicant for the public
40	40	benefit who is 14 years of age or older is lawfully present in the
41	41	United States.
42	42	(b) The governmental entity shall implement Subsection (a)
43	43	without regard to the applicant's race, religion, gender,
44	44	ethnicity, or national origin.
45	45	(c) As verification of the applicant's lawful presence in
46	46	the United States, the applicant shall execute an affidavit before
47	47	a notary swearing that the applicant is:
48	48	(1) a United States citizen or other United States
49	49	national; or
50	50	(2) a qualified alien, as defined by 8 U.S.C. Section
51	51	1641, and is lawfully present in the United States.
52	52	(d) The governmental entity shall provide free notary
53	53	public services to an applicant for a public benefit for purposes of
54	54	this section.
55	55	Sec. 2351.053. EXEMPTION FROM REQUIREMENT TO VERIFY LAWFUL
56	56	PRESENCE OF CERTAIN APPLICANTS. A governmental entity is not
57	57	required under Section 2351.052 to verify the lawful presence in
58	58	the United States of an applicant if the applicant is applying for
59	59	any of the following public benefits:
60	60	(1) a health care item or service that:
61	61	(A) is necessary to treat an emergency medical
62	62	condition, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 1396b(v)(3), of the
63	63	applicant; and
64	64	(B) is not related to an organ transplant
65	65	procedure;
66	66	(2) short-term, noncash, in-kind emergency disaster
67	67	relief;
68	68	(3) public health assistance for immunizations or for
69	69	testing and treatment of a symptom of a communicable disease,
70	70	regardless of whether the symptom is caused by a communicable
71	71	disease;
72	72	(4) a program, service, or other assistance, including
73	73	crisis counseling and intervention, short-term shelter, and
74	74	assistance provided through a soup kitchen, that:
75	75	(A) is specified by the United States attorney
76	76	general in the attorney general's sole and unreviewable discretion
77	77	after consultation with appropriate federal agencies;
78	78	(B) delivers in-kind assistance at the community
79	79	level, including through a public or private nonprofit agency;
80	80	(C) does not condition the provision of
81	81	assistance, the amount of assistance provided, or the cost of the
82	82	assistance provided on the recipient's income or resources; and
83	83	(D) is necessary for the protection of life or
84	84	safety; or
85	85	(5) any other public benefit for which lawful presence
86	86	in the United States is not required by:
87	87	(A) a federal or state law or regulation; or
88	88	(B) a local order or ordinance.
89	89	Sec. 2351.054. VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN
90	90	APPLICANTS FOR PUBLIC BENEFITS REQUIRED. (a) A governmental
91	91	entity shall verify the eligibility of an applicant for a public
92	92	benefit who executes an affidavit under Section 2351.052 for that
93	93	public benefit using:
94	94	(1) the Systematic Alien Verification for
95	95	Entitlements (SAVE) program operated by the United States
96	96	Department of Homeland Security; or
97	97	(2) an equivalent program designated by that
98	98	department.
99	99	(b) A governmental entity shall presume that an applicant
100	100	for a public benefit who executes an affidavit under Section
101	101	2351.052 is lawfully present in the United States for purposes of
102	102	this subchapter until the governmental entity verifies the
103	103	applicant's eligibility in the manner required by Subsection (a).
104	104	Sec. 2351.055. ALTERNATE PROCEDURES FOR EFFICIENCY OR TO
105	105	REDUCE HARDSHIP AUTHORIZED. A governmental entity may adopt rules
106	106	that provide procedures that vary from the requirements of this
107	107	subchapter if the governmental entity's procedures:
108	108	(1) demonstrably improve efficiency or reduce delay in
109	109	verifying that an applicant is eligible for a public benefit, as
110	110	compared to the requirements of this subchapter; or
111	111	(2) apply only for an applicant who is a legal resident
112	112	of this state and with respect to whom the governmental entity
113	113	determines that the requirements of this subchapter would impose an
114	114	unusual hardship because of the applicant's circumstances.
115	115	[Sections 2351.056-2351.100 reserved for expansion]
116	116	SUBCHAPTER C. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
117	117	Sec. 2351.101. REPORTING OF ERRORS AND DELAYS. (a) A
118	118	governmental entity shall monitor the occurrence of errors made,
119	119	and any significant delays caused, by the eligibility verification
120	120	program used under Section 2351.054.
121	121	(b) Not later than December 1 of each year, the governmental
122	122	entity shall submit a report to the United States Department of
123	123	Homeland Security regarding the occurrence during the previous year
124	124	of errors and delays described by Subsection (a). The report must
125	125	include:
126	126	(1) a determination of whether the eligibility
127	127	verification program is wrongfully denying public benefits to
128	128	individuals who are lawfully present in the United States; and
129	129	(2) recommendations for ensuring that the errors and
130	130	delays do not continue to occur.
131	131	(c) The governmental entity shall make the report submitted
132	132	under Subsection (b) available to the public.
133	133	Sec. 2351.102. ANNUAL COMPLIANCE REPORT. Not later than
134	134	December 1 of each year, each governmental entity that administers
135	135	a state or local public benefit shall submit to the governor,
136	136	lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
137	137	representatives a report regarding the governmental entity's
138	138	compliance with this chapter.
139	139	[Sections 2351.103-2351.150 reserved for expansion]
140	140	SUBCHAPTER D. ENFORCEMENT
141	141	Sec. 2351.151. CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR FRAUDULENT AFFIDAVIT.
142	142	(a) An individual commits an offense if the individual knowingly
143	143	makes a false or otherwise fraudulent statement in an affidavit
144	144	executed under Section 2351.052.
145	145	(b) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
146	146	(c) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this
147	147	section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor
148	148	may be prosecuted under this section or the other law.
149	149	Sec. 2351.152. REPORTING OF FEDERAL CRIMINAL CONDUCT. If
150	150	an applicant for a public benefit submits to a governmental entity
151	151	an affidavit executed under Section 2351.052 containing a statement
152	152	that constitutes a false and wilful representation of United States
153	153	citizenship under 18 U.S.C. Section 911, the governmental entity
154	154	shall report that conduct to the United States attorney for the
155	155	district in which the affidavit was submitted.
156	156	SECTION 2. Subtitle H, Title 10, Government Code, as added
157	157	by this Act, applies to an application for a federal, state, or
158	158	local public benefit that is pending or filed on or after the
159	159	effective date of this Act.
160	160	SECTION 3. If before implementing any provision of this Act
161	161	a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
162	162	federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
163	163	the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
164	164	authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
165	165	waiver or authorization is granted.
166	166	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.