85R124 SRS-F
By: White H.B. No. 552
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of occupations by this state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 2, Occupations Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 60 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 60. ENFORCEMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL REGULATIONS
Sec. 60.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "License" means a license, certificate,
registration, permit, or other form of authorization required by
law or a state agency rule that must be obtained by an individual to
engage in a particular occupation.
(2) "State agency" means a department, board, bureau,
commission, committee, division, office, council, or agency of the
state.
Sec. 60.002. REGULATION OF OCCUPATIONS. (a) An individual
in this state has the right to engage in any lawful occupation
without burdensome governmental regulation.
(b) A lawful occupation may be regulated by the state only
if the state agency enforcing the regulation demonstrates that the
regulation is:
(1) necessary to fulfill the purpose and intent of the
statute authorizing the occupation's regulation; and
(2) not substantially burdensome.
Sec. 60.003. DEFENSE AVAILABLE. (a) In any enforcement
action by a state agency against an individual for failure to comply
with an occupational regulation, including a requirement to obtain
a license to engage in a lawful occupation, the individual may
present evidence that the regulation substantially burdens the
individual's right to engage in a lawful occupation.
(b) If the individual shows by a preponderance of the
evidence that the regulation substantially burdens the
individual's right to engage in a lawful occupation, the state
agency has the burden of establishing by clear and convincing
evidence that the occupational regulation that the agency seeks to
enforce is necessary to fulfill the purpose and intent of the
statute authorizing the occupation's regulation.
Sec. 60.004. RELIEF. An individual may file suit against
the state for declaratory judgment or injunction or other equitable
relief that a regulatory requirement imposed on an occupation
violates Section 60.002(b).
SECTION 2. Chapter 60, Occupations Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a disciplinary hearing or other action that
commences on or after the effective date of this Act. A
disciplinary hearing or action that commences before that date is
governed by the law in effect at the time the disciplinary hearing
or action commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.