81R3109 KFF-D By: Ellis S.B. No. 2279 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the dedication of certain civil penalties for violations of the Business & Commerce Code to provide civil legal services to the indigent. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 402.007, Government Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 402.007. PAYMENT TO TREASURY; ALLOCATION OF CERTAIN PENALTIES. (a) The attorney general shall immediately pay into the state treasury money received for a debt or penalty. (b) The comptroller shall credit to the judicial fund for programs approved by the supreme court that provide basic civil legal services to the indigent a civil penalty that is recovered in an action by the attorney general under a provision of the Business & Commerce Code and paid into the state treasury, less any amount authorized by law to be retained by the attorney general, unless another law requires that the penalty be credited to a different fund or account. SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a civil penalty in an action by the attorney general under a provision of the Business & Commerce Code that is received on or after the effective date of this Act. SECTION 3. 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.