By: Shapleigh, Carona S.B. No. 896
Ellis
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the driver responsibility program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 708.151, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 708.151. NOTICE OF SURCHARGE. (a) The department
shall send notices as required by Subsection (b) to [notify] the
holder of a driver's license when [of the assessment of] a surcharge
is assessed on that license. Each notice must:
(1) be sent by first class mail [sent] to the person's
most recent address as shown on the records of the department;
(2) [. The notice must] specify the date by which the
surcharge must be paid; and
(3) state the consequences of a failure to pay the
surcharge.
(b) The department shall send a first notice not later than
the fifth day after the date the surcharge is assessed. If before
the 30th day after the date the first notice was sent the person
fails to pay the amount of the surcharge or fails to enter into an
installment payment agreement with the department, the department
shall send a second notice. If before the 30th day after the date
the second notice was sent the person fails to pay the amount of the
surcharge or fails to enter into an installment payment agreement
with the department, the department shall send a third notice.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 708.152, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) If before the 30th day after the date the department
sends a third notice under Section 708.151 the person fails to pay
the amount of a surcharge on the person's license or fails to enter
into an installment payment agreement with the department, the
license of the person is automatically suspended.
SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 708.153, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) A rule under this section:
(1) may not require [permit] a person to pay a
surcharge over a period of less [more] than 36 consecutive months;
and
(2) may provide that if the person fails to make a
required installment payment, the department may reestablish the
installment plan or declare the amount of the unpaid surcharge
immediately due and payable.
SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 708, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 708.158 to read as follows:
Sec. 708.158. JURISDICTION. (a) For the time a surcharge
under this chapter is outstanding, the court in which a person is
convicted of the offense that is the basis for the surcharge has
jurisdiction over the person, the department, and all agents of the
department regarding all matters relating to the surcharge.
(b) The court may reduce or waive a surcharge under this
chapter. A person who is assessed a surcharge may file a pleading,
request a hearing, or otherwise invoke the jurisdiction of the
court described by Subsection (a) at any time the person is required
to pay a surcharge or is subject to any other enforcement procedure
described by this chapter.
(c) The department may not assess a surcharge against a
person who is indigent. For the purposes of this subsection, a
person is indigent if:
(1) the person provides evidence described by
Subsection (d) to the court in which the person is convicted of the
offense that is the basis for the surcharge; or
(2) the person is a full-time student who:
(A) is enrolled in a public, private, or
independent institution of higher education; and
(B) provides evidence described by Subsection
(d) to the court in which the person is convicted of the offense
that is the basis for the surcharge.
(d) A person must provide the following information to the
court in which the person is convicted of the offense that is the
basis for the surcharge as evidence that the person's income or the
person's household income does not exceed 200 percent of the
applicable income level established by the federal poverty
guidelines:
(1) a copy of the person's most recent federal income
tax return;
(2) a copy of the person's most recent statement of
wages; or
(3) documentation from a federal agency, state agency,
or school district that indicates that the person or a member of the
person's family with whom the person resides receives assistance
from:
(A) the food stamp program or the financial
assistance program established under Chapter 31, Human Resources
Code;
(B) the federal special supplemental nutrition
program for women, infants, and children authorized by 42 U.S.C.
Section 1786;
(C) the medical assistance program under Chapter
32, Human Resources Code;
(D) the child health plan program under Chapter
62, Health and Safety Code; or
(E) the national free or reduced-price lunch
program established under 42 U.S.C. Section 1751 et seq.
(e) If a court holds a hearing and finds that a person is
indigent based on the information provided to the court by the
person under Subsection (d), the court shall notify the department
that the person is indigent.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 708, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 708.056 to read as follows:
Sec. 708.056. DEDUCTION OF POINTS. The department by rule
shall establish a procedure to provide for the deduction of one
point accumulated by a person under this subchapter to account for
each year that the person has not accumulated points under this
subchapter.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a surcharge that is assessed on or after the effective date of this
Act. A surcharge that was assessed before the effective date of
this Act is subject to the law in effect on the date the surcharge
was assessed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.