By: Thompson of Harris, et al. H.B. No. 1079
(Senate Sponsor - Perry)
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 6, 2015;
May 11, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 19, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 19, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE VOTE
YeaNayAbsentPNV
HuffmanX
EllisX
BirdwellX
CreightonX
EstesX
FraserX
NelsonX
SchwertnerX
ZaffiriniX
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the distribution of certain civil penalties, payments,
and civil restitution received by the attorney general.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 402.007(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Subject to Subsection (d), the comptroller shall credit
to the judicial fund for programs approved by the supreme court that
provide basic civil legal services to the indigent the net amount
of:
(1) a civil penalty or payment, excluding attorney's
fees or costs, that is recovered in an action by the attorney
general in any matter actionable under the [Subchapter E, Chapter
17,] Business & Commerce Code, after deducting amounts allocated to
or retained by the attorney general as authorized by law, unless:
(A) another law requires that the funds [penalty]
be credited to a different fund or account; or
(B) the judgment awarding the funds [penalty]
requires that the funds [penalty] be paid to another identifiable
[named] recipient; and
(2) civil restitution recovered by the attorney
general in an action brought by the attorney general [arising from
conduct that violates a consumer protection, public health, or
general welfare law,] if, on the hearing of an ex parte motion filed
by the attorney general after the entry of a judgment awarding civil
restitution, the court:
(A) determines that, based on the facts and
circumstances of the case:
(i) it is impossible or impracticable to
identify injured parties;
(ii) it is impossible or impracticable to
determine the degree to which each claimant was injured and
entitled to recover;
(iii) the cost of administering a claim
procedure will disproportionately reduce the amount of restitution
available for the payment of individual claims; or
(iv) the claims of all identifiable persons
eligible to receive restitution have been paid without exhausting
the funds available for restitution; and
(B) enters a judgment or order that the
restitution be credited to the judicial fund for programs approved
by the supreme court that provide basic civil legal services to the
indigent.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a civil penalty, payment, or civil restitution that is received
by the attorney general on or after the effective date of this Act.
A civil penalty, payment, or civil restitution received by the
attorney general before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this
Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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