By: Guillen (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 588
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 18, 2011;
April 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Transportation and Homeland Security; May 17, 2011, reported
favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 17, 2011,
sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to surcharges under the Driver Responsibility Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 708.157(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The department by rule shall [may] offer a holder of a
driver's license on which a surcharge has been assessed an
incentive for compliance with the law and efforts at
rehabilitation, including a reduction of a surcharge or a decrease
in the length of an installment plan.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 708, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 708.159 to read as follows:
Sec. 708.159. ADVANCE PAYMENT OF SURCHARGES. (a) The
department shall offer an option for a single up-front payment to a
person who is assessed an annual surcharge under this chapter to
allow the person to pay in advance the total amount that will be
owed for the 36-month period for which the surcharge will be
assessed.
(b) Notice under Section 708.151 of an initial surcharge
imposed under this chapter must notify the driver's license holder
of:
(1) the total amount the person will owe for the
36-month period for which the surcharge will be assessed; and
(2) the availability of the advance payment option
under this section.
(c) If a person makes a single up-front payment under this
section in the amount specified in the notice under Subsection
(b)(1) and the person is not, in the 36-month period for which the
person made the up-front payment, subsequently convicted of an
offense requiring a surcharge or an increase in the amount due to
the department, the department is not required to:
(1) take any further action under Section 708.053,
708.102, 708.103, or 708.104, as applicable; or
(2) annually notify the person of the assessment of
the surcharge under Section 708.151.
SECTION 3. Section 708.159, Transportation Code, as added
by this Act, applies to any total surcharge amounts owed by a person
for a 36-month period under Chapter 708, Transportation Code,
regardless of whether the initial annual surcharge was assessed
before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
* * * * *