82R5049 KLA-D
By: Watson S.B. No. 695
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a suspension of the imposition of certain fees under
certain conditions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 404, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 404.074 to read as follows:
Sec. 404.074. NOTICE OF EXCESS REVENUE CREDITED TO CERTAIN
ACCOUNTS; SUSPENSION OF FEES. (a) In this section, "fee" means an
amount required to be paid in exchange for a service or other
benefit or as part of a regulatory system. The term includes an
amount charged in exchange for a direct personal benefit, such as an
amount charged to engage in a regulated occupation or activity, to
enter a state park, museum, or other facility, or for the issuance
of specialty license plates. The term does not include a tax
imposed under the Tax Code or other law.
(b) This section applies only to an account in the general
revenue fund:
(1) the revenue credited to which is dedicated only by
statute to a particular purpose or entity; and
(2) a portion of the revenue of which in excess of
amounts appropriated by the General Appropriations Act or other law
would, through the application of Section 403.095(b) or a successor
law providing that certain dedicated revenue is available for
general governmental purposes, be available for those purposes and
considered available for the purpose of certification under Section
403.121.
(c) On the date amounts credited during a state fiscal
biennium to an account to which this section applies equal at least
110 percent of the total amounts appropriated by the General
Appropriations Act and other law for that biennium, the comptroller
shall:
(1) identify each person who collects or remits
revenue credited to that account; and
(2) notify each person identified under Subdivision
(1) in writing that:
(A) the credited amounts exceed the
appropriations for the biennium; and
(B) the imposition of the portion of the fee from
which the revenue credited to the account is derived that the person
would otherwise collect or remit to the comptroller is suspended
during the period beginning on a date stated in the notice.
(d) The date on which the suspension period described by
Subsection (c)(2)(B) begins must be the first day of a calendar
month and may not be later than the 45th day after the date the
notice is sent. The period ends on a date determined by the
comptroller after considering the account balance necessary to
cover appropriations from the account to which the suspended fee
would be deposited.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, including a law under
which a fee is otherwise imposed, the imposition of the portion of a
fee that is the subject of a notice required by Subsection (c) is
suspended for the period specified in the notice. A person who
receives the notice may not impose or collect the portion of the fee
that is the subject of the notice during the specified period but
shall remit to the comptroller in accordance with applicable law:
(1) all fees collected before the beginning of the
period that have not been remitted; and
(2) delinquent fees that were imposed and became due
before the beginning of the period but are collected during the
period.
(f) The suspension of the imposition of a fee under
Subsection (e) does not affect the availability of or access to the
benefit or service, or operation of the regulatory system, with
respect to which the fee would be imposed if not suspended.
(g) The comptroller shall maintain in a conspicuous
location on the comptroller's Internet website a current list of
fees the imposition of which are suspended under this section. The
list must:
(1) contain information that clearly identifies each
suspended fee; and
(2) specify the suspension period for each of those
fees.
(h) The comptroller by rule shall establish procedures by
which a person who pays a fee that was imposed on the person in
violation of Subsection (e) may request a refund of the amount paid.
The comptroller shall determine whether the fee was imposed in
violation of Subsection (e).
(i) If the comptroller determines through procedures
established under Subsection (h) that a fee was imposed on the
person requesting a refund in violation of Subsection (e), the
comptroller shall refund the amount of the fee paid. A person
aggrieved by a determination of the comptroller under those
procedures may appeal that determination. The appeal is a
contested case under Chapter 2001.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.