85R4932 JCG-D
By: Johnson of Dallas H.B. No. 2073
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to publication of notice requirements for certain
governmental entities and representatives.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2051.044(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The newspaper in which a notice is published must:
(1) devote not less than 25 percent of its total column
lineage to general interest items;
(2) be published at least once each week; and
(3) [be entered as second-class postal matter in the
county where published; and
[(4)] have been published regularly and continuously
for at least 12 months before the governmental entity or
representative publishes notice.
SECTION 2. Section 2051.049, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2051.049. SELECTION OF NEWSPAPER. (a) The
governmental entity or representative required to publish a notice
in a newspaper shall select, in accordance with this subchapter,
one or more newspapers to publish the notice.
(b) To encourage the development of minority-owned
businesses in this state, a governmental entity or representative
that publishes a notice in a newspaper under Section 2051.044 shall
consider selecting a newspaper that is a minority-owned business
if:
(1) a substantial percentage of the individuals
residing in the area where the notice is to be published are members
of one or more minority groups; and
(2) a newspaper in the area where the notice is to be
published:
(A) is a minority-owned business; and
(B) is widely circulated in that area.
(c) In this section, "minority-owned business" and
"minority group" have the meanings assigned by Section 161.131(c),
Natural Resources Code.
SECTION 3. Section 2051.044(a), Government Code, as amended
by this Act, and Section 2051.049(b), Government Code, as added by
this Act, apply only to a publication of notice first published on
or after the effective date of this Act. A publication of notice
published before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect at the time of the publication, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.