Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB896 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Shapleigh, Carona S.B. No. 896
2	2	Ellis
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the driver responsibility program.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 708.151, Transportation Code, is amended
10	10	to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 708.151. NOTICE OF SURCHARGE. (a) The department
12	12	shall send notices as required by Subsection (b) to [notify] the
13	13	holder of a driver's license when [of the assessment of] a surcharge
14	14	is assessed on that license. Each notice must:
15	15	(1) be sent by first class mail [sent] to the person's
16	16	most recent address as shown on the records of the department;
17	17	(2) [. The notice must] specify the date by which the
18	18	surcharge must be paid; and
19	19	(3) state the consequences of a failure to pay the
20	20	surcharge.
21	21	(b) The department shall send a first notice not later than
22	22	the fifth day after the date the surcharge is assessed. If before
23	23	the 30th day after the date the first notice was sent the person
24	24	fails to pay the amount of the surcharge or fails to enter into an
25	25	installment payment agreement with the department, the department
26	26	shall send a second notice. If before the 30th day after the date
27	27	the second notice was sent the person fails to pay the amount of the
28	28	surcharge or fails to enter into an installment payment agreement
29	29	with the department, the department shall send a third notice.
30	30	SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 708.152, Transportation
31	31	Code, is amended to read as follows:
32	32	(a) If before the 30th day after the date the department
33	33	sends a third notice under Section 708.151 the person fails to pay
34	34	the amount of a surcharge on the person's license or fails to enter
35	35	into an installment payment agreement with the department, the
36	36	license of the person is automatically suspended.
37	37	SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 708.153, Transportation
38	38	Code, is amended to read as follows:
39	39	(b) A rule under this section:
40	40	(1) may not require [permit] a person to pay a
41	41	surcharge over a period of less [more] than 36 consecutive months;
42	42	and
43	43	(2) may provide that if the person fails to make a
44	44	required installment payment, the department may reestablish the
45	45	installment plan or declare the amount of the unpaid surcharge
46	46	immediately due and payable.
47	47	SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 708, Transportation Code,
48	48	is amended by adding Section 708.158 to read as follows:
49	49	Sec. 708.158. JURISDICTION. (a) For the time a surcharge
50	50	under this chapter is outstanding, the court in which a person is
51	51	convicted of the offense that is the basis for the surcharge has
52	52	jurisdiction over the person, the department, and all agents of the
53	53	department regarding all matters relating to the surcharge.
54	54	(b) The court may reduce or waive a surcharge under this
55	55	chapter. A person who is assessed a surcharge may file a pleading,
56	56	request a hearing, or otherwise invoke the jurisdiction of the
57	57	court described by Subsection (a) at any time the person is required
58	58	to pay a surcharge or is subject to any other enforcement procedure
59	59	described by this chapter.
60	60	(c) The department may not assess a surcharge against a
61	61	person who is indigent. For the purposes of this subsection, a
62	62	person is indigent if:
63	63	(1) the person provides evidence described by
64	64	Subsection (d) to the court in which the person is convicted of the
65	65	offense that is the basis for the surcharge; or
66	66	(2) the person is a full-time student who:
67	67	(A) is enrolled in a public, private, or
68	68	independent institution of higher education; and
69	69	(B) provides evidence described by Subsection
70	70	(d) to the court in which the person is convicted of the offense
71	71	that is the basis for the surcharge.
72	72	(d) A person must provide the following information to the
73	73	court in which the person is convicted of the offense that is the
74	74	basis for the surcharge as evidence that the person's income or the
75	75	person's household income does not exceed 200 percent of the
76	76	applicable income level established by the federal poverty
77	77	guidelines:
78	78	(1) a copy of the person's most recent federal income
79	79	tax return;
80	80	(2) a copy of the person's most recent statement of
81	81	wages; or
82	82	(3) documentation from a federal agency, state agency,
83	83	or school district that indicates that the person or a member of the
84	84	person's family with whom the person resides receives assistance
85	85	from:
86	86	(A) the food stamp program or the financial
87	87	assistance program established under Chapter 31, Human Resources
88	88	Code;
89	89	(B) the federal special supplemental nutrition
90	90	program for women, infants, and children authorized by 42 U.S.C.
91	91	Section 1786;
92	92	(C) the medical assistance program under Chapter
93	93	32, Human Resources Code;
94	94	(D) the child health plan program under Chapter
95	95	62, Health and Safety Code; or
96	96	(E) the national free or reduced-price lunch
97	97	program established under 42 U.S.C. Section 1751 et seq.
98	98	(e) If a court holds a hearing and finds that a person is
99	99	indigent based on the information provided to the court by the
100	100	person under Subsection (d), the court shall notify the department
101	101	that the person is indigent.
102	102	SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 708, Transportation Code,
103	103	is amended by adding Section 708.056 to read as follows:
104	104	Sec. 708.056. DEDUCTION OF POINTS. The department by rule
105	105	shall establish a procedure to provide for the deduction of one
106	106	point accumulated by a person under this subchapter to account for
107	107	each year that the person has not accumulated points under this
108	108	subchapter.
109	109	SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
110	110	a surcharge that is assessed on or after the effective date of this
111	111	Act. A surcharge that was assessed before the effective date of
112	112	this Act is subject to the law in effect on the date the surcharge
113	113	was assessed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
114	114	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.