83R20851 BEF-D
By: Gonzales, King of Taylor H.B. No. 1893
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1893:
By: Collier C.S.H.B. No. 1893
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Texas Funeral Service Commission and the regulation
of funeral directing and embalming.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 651.001(14), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(14) "Provisional license holder" means a person who:
(A) is engaged in learning the practice of
funeral directing or embalming under the instruction, direction,
and [personal] supervision of a funeral director or embalmer as
provided by Section 651.306; and
(B) holds a provisional license issued by the
commission under this chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 651.054(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Members of the commission serve staggered six-year
terms, with the terms of one-third of the members expiring in each
odd-numbered year. [A member may not be appointed for more than one
full term, except that a member appointed to fill an unexpired term
with less than three years remaining in the unexpired term may be
reappointed to the commission for one full term.]
SECTION 3. Section 651.253(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) To be eligible for a funeral director's license or an
embalmer's license, an applicant must:
(1) be at least 18 years of age;
(2) have graduated from an accredited high school or
passed an examination prescribed by the Texas Education Agency;
(3) have graduated from an accredited school or
college of mortuary science;
(4) unless the applicant holds a reciprocal embalmer's
license, have served as a provisional license holder for not less
than one year under the [personal] supervision and instruction of a
funeral director or embalmer, as applicable, as provided by Section
651.306; and
(5) have successfully completed the applicable
written examination described by Section 651.255 or 651.256.
SECTION 4. Section 651.301, Occupations Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 651.301. PROVISIONAL LICENSE REQUIRED. A person must
obtain a provisional license before the person may engage in
learning the practice of funeral directing or embalming under the
instruction, direction, and [personal] supervision in this state of
a licensed funeral director or embalmer as provided by Section
651.306.
SECTION 5. Section 651.302, Occupations Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 651.302. APPLICATION; ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL
LICENSE. (a) The commission shall issue a provisional license to
practice funeral directing to an applicant who:
(1) is at least 18 years of age;
(2) either:
(A) has completed the educational requirements
of Section 651.253 or is enrolled in an accredited school or college
of mortuary science; or
(B) [(3)] is employed by a funeral director to
learn funeral directing [or embalming] under the instruction and
supervision of the funeral director as provided by Section 651.306;
(3) [(4)] files an application for a provisional
license on a form provided by the commission and verified under oath
by the applicant; and
(4) [(5)] pays any required application or license
fee.
(b) The commission shall issue a provisional license to
practice embalming to an applicant who:
(1) is at least 18 years of age;
(2) either:
(A) has completed the educational requirements
of Section 651.253 or is enrolled in an accredited school or college
of mortuary science; or
(B) is employed by an embalmer to learn embalming
under the instruction and supervision of the embalmer as provided
by Section 651.306;
(3) files an application for a provisional license;
(4) pays any required application or license fee; and
(5) complies with the requirements of this chapter and
of the commission.
SECTION 6. Sections 651.303(b) and (c), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission by rule shall define the terms of
employment of a provisional license holder. The terms of
employment must include service by the provisional license holder
under actual working conditions and under the [personal]
supervision of a funeral director or embalmer as provided by
Section 651.306.
(c) The term of the provisional license program must be at
least 12 consecutive months but not more than 24 consecutive
months. The commission may extend the term of the provisional
license program for not more than 12 additional months for a
provisional license holder who requests and receives an extension
based on hardship under Section 651.305(e).
SECTION 7. Section 651.305(d), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) If the renewal fee and penalty are not paid before the
91st day after the date of the notice of suspension, the commission
shall cancel the license. [If the license is canceled under this
subsection, the provisional license holder may apply for
reinstatement not later than 18 months after the date of
cancellation. The commission may reinstate the canceled license
if:
[(1) all other commission requirements are satisfied;
and
[(2) the license fee and a late payment penalty equal
to the amount of the license fee for the period of the cancellation
are paid.]
SECTION 8. Section 651.306, Occupations Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 651.306. [PERSONAL] SUPERVISION OF PROVISIONAL
LICENSE HOLDER. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a
provisional license holder may practice only under the personal
supervision of a funeral director or embalmer. For the purposes of
this chapter, personal supervision requires the physical presence
of a funeral director or embalmer at the specified place and time a
funeral service is provided.
(b) After a provisional license holder has practiced under
the personal supervision of a funeral director or embalmer for at
least six months and has attained a score of at least 75 percent on
the Texas laws examination given by the commission, the funeral
director or embalmer under whom the provisional license holder is
training may submit to the commission an affidavit of proficiency
for the provisional license holder. If the commission approves the
affidavit of proficiency, the provisional license holder may
practice under the general supervision of a funeral director or
embalmer. For purposes of this chapter, general supervision
requires a funeral director or embalmer to be present on the
premises where a funeral service is provided.
SECTION 9. Section 651.302, Occupations Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a person who files an application for a
provisional license on or after the effective date of this Act. A
person who files an application before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the application was
filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.