84R11568 DRH-F
By: Lucio S.B. No. 1425
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1(2), Article 4413(37), Revised
Statutes, as amended by Chapters 308 (H.B. 1887) and 927 (H.B.
3225), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(2) "Economic motor vehicle theft" means motor vehicle
[burglary or] theft committed for financial gain.
SECTION 2. Section 1(4), Article 4413(37), Revised
Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
(4) "Director" means the executive director of the
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles [Texas Department of
Transportation].
SECTION 3. Sections 5(b), (c), and (d), Article 4413(37),
Revised Statutes, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The authority shall meet at the call of the presiding
officer [chairman] or at the call of four members.
(c) To be eligible to take office as a member of the
authority, a person appointed to the authority must complete [at
least one course of] a training program that complies with
Subsection (d).
(d) The training program required by Subsection (c) must
provide information to the person regarding:
(1) the enabling legislation that created the
authority [and its policymaking body to which the member is
appointed to serve];
(2) the programs operated by the authority;
(3) the role and functions of the authority;
(4) the rules of the authority and the department;
(5) the current budget for the authority;
(6) the results of the most recent formal program
audit of the authority;
(7) the requirements of the:
(A) open meetings law, Chapter 551, Government
Code;
(B) open records law, Chapter 552, Government
Code; and
(C) administrative procedure law, Chapter 2001,
Government Code;
(8) the requirements of the conflict-of-interest laws
and other laws relating to public officials; and
(9) any applicable ethics policies adopted by the
department or the Texas Ethics Commission.
SECTION 4. Sections 6(b), (d), (j), and (k), Article
4413(37), Revised Statutes, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The authority may solicit and the department may accept
gifts and grants to carry out a purpose or function of the
authority.
(d) Not later than April 1 of each year, the authority shall
report on its activities to the lieutenant governor and the speaker
of the house of representatives. The report must include:
(1) an accounting of all funds received and disbursed
by the authority during the previous fiscal year; and
(2) the motor vehicle theft rate for the previous
fiscal year as determined by authority rule.
(j) The authority shall:
(1) develop and use standard performance measures for
each category of grants provided by the authority in order to assess
grantee success in achieving the purposes of this article; and
(2) ensure that grants are used to help reduce the
incidence of [increase:
[(A) the recovery rate of stolen motor vehicles;
[(B) the clearance rate of motor vehicle
burglaries and thefts; and
[(C) the number of persons arrested for] motor
vehicle [burglary and] theft and burglary.
(k) The authority shall allocate grant funds primarily
based on where the number of motor vehicle thefts or burglaries
[vehicles stolen in,] or the motor vehicle [burglary or] theft or
burglary rate is highest in [across,] the state [rather than based
on geographic distribution].
SECTION 5. Section 6A, Article 4413(37), Revised Statutes,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 6A. REFUNDS [POWER TO REFUND]. (a) An insurer may
request a refund of fees or a determination of the sufficiency of
payments of fees collected under Section 10 of this article not
later than the second anniversary of the date the fees were paid.
(b) The authority may make determinations regarding the
sufficiency of payments made by an ["]insurer[" (as defined under
Section 10 of this article)] of fees collected pursuant to Section
10 of this article.
(c) [(b)] Pursuant to such determination, the authority
may:
(1) notify the comptroller that payments made by an
insurer are sufficient; and
(2) request the comptroller to draw warrants on the
funds available to the authority for the purpose of refunding
monies to an insurer.
(d) [(c)] The authority shall make the determination under
Subsection (c) [(b)] of this section [as follows:
[(1) the two members of the authority who are
representatives of insurance companies writing motor vehicle
insurance in this state shall recuse themselves;
[(2) the remaining five members of the authority shall
make the determination] by a simple majority vote.
(e) [(d)] Determinations made under this section shall be
performed in accordance with procedures set forth in rules adopted
by the authority. The question of eligibility for a refund is not a
contested case within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure
Act (Chapter 2001, Government Code).
SECTION 6. Section 7(a), Article 4413(37), Revised
Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The authority shall develop and implement a plan of
operation. The plan of operation must be updated biennially and
filed with the speaker of the house of representatives and the
lieutenant governor [legislature] on or before December 1 of each
even-numbered year.
SECTION 7. Section 7(b), Article 4413(37), Revised
Statutes, as amended by Chapters 308 (H.B. 1887) and 927 (H.B.
3225), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(b) The plan of operation must include:
(1) an assessment of the scope of the problems of motor
vehicle [burglary or] theft and economic motor vehicle theft,
including particular areas of the state where the problems are
greatest;
(2) an analysis of various methods of combating the
problems of motor vehicle [burglary or] theft and economic motor
vehicle theft;
(3) a plan for providing financial support to combat
motor vehicle [burglary or] theft and economic motor vehicle theft;
and
(4) an estimate of the funds required to implement the
plan of operation.
SECTION 8. Section 8(a), Article 4413(37), Revised
Statutes, as amended by Chapters 308 (H.B. 1887) and 927 (H.B.
3225), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(a) Money appropriated to the department for authority
purposes shall be used [by the authority] to pay the department for
administrative costs and to achieve the purposes of this article,
including:
(1) [establishing and funding the motor vehicle
registration program required by Section 9 of this article;
[(2)] providing financial support to law enforcement
agencies for economic motor vehicle theft enforcement teams;
(2) [(3)] providing financial support to law
enforcement agencies, local prosecutors, local governmental
entities, judicial agencies, and neighborhood, community,
business, and nonprofit organizations for programs designed to
reduce the incidence of economic motor vehicle theft;
(3) [(4)] conducting educational programs designed to
inform motor vehicle owners of methods of preventing motor vehicle
[burglary or] theft;
(4) [(5)] providing equipment, for experimental
purposes, to assist motor vehicle owners in preventing motor
vehicle [burglary or] theft; and
(5) [(6)] establishing a uniform program to prevent
stolen motor vehicles from entering Mexico.
SECTION 9. Sections 8(b) and (c), Article 4413(37), Revised
Statutes, are amended to read as follows:
(b) In any fiscal year, the [amount of the administrative
expenses of the authority, including salaries, travel and marketing
expenses, and other overhead expenses may not exceed eight percent
of the total expenditures of the authority.
[(c) The] cost of personnel, [and] services, and
administrative expenses of the authority, including salaries,
travel, and marketing and other overhead expenses incurred by the
authority or provided to the authority by the department and by the
attorney general may be paid only from appropriations made for
authority purposes and may not exceed eight percent of those
appropriations. Appropriations made for authority purposes may not
be used for any other purpose.
SECTION 10. Sections 10(b), (d), and (e), Article 4413(37),
Revised Statutes, are amended to read as follows:
(b) An insurer shall pay [to the authority] a fee equal to $2
multiplied by the total number of motor vehicle years of insurance
for insurance policies delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed
by the insurer. The fee shall be paid not later than:
(1) March 1 of each year for a policy issued,
delivered, or renewed from July 1 through December 31 of the
previous calendar year; and
(2) August 1 of each year for a policy issued,
delivered, or renewed from January 1 through June 30 of that year.
(d) The authority shall notify the Texas Department [State
Board] of Insurance of any insurer that fails to pay the fee
required by this section, and the Texas Department of Insurance
[board] may for that reason revoke the insurer's certificate of
authority.
(e) Fifty percent of each fee collected under Subsection (b)
may be appropriated only for use by [to] the authority for the
purposes of this article.
SECTION 11. The following Sections of Article 4413(37),
Revised Statutes, are repealed:
(1) Sections 6(i) and 9; and
(2) Section 11, as amended by Chapters 308 (H.B. 1887)
and 927 (H.B. 3225), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session,
2007.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.