Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1377 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	~~86R20248~~ JCG-D
	1	+	86R6937 JCG-D
2	2		By: Dutton H.B. No. 1377
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1377:
4		-	By: Bowers C.S.H.B. No. 1377
5	3
6	4
7	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	6		AN ACT
9	7		relating to the creation of a commission to review certain laws of
10	8		this state that restrict the rights or activities of persons
11	9		convicted of a felony offense and to make certain recommendations
12	10		regarding those laws.
13	11		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	12		SECTION 1. COMMISSION TO STUDY CERTAIN LAWS THAT RESTRICT
15	13		RIGHTS OR ACTIVITIES OF PERSONS CONVICTED OF FELONY OFFENSES.
16	14		(a) A commission is created to study and review all laws of this
17	15		state that restrict the rights or activities of persons convicted
18	16		of a felony offense, including:
19	17		(1) the right to vote;
20	18		(2) the right to serve on a grand or petit jury; and
21	19		(3) eligibility for certain occupational licenses.
22	20		(b) The commission shall:
23	21		(1) evaluate all laws described by Subsection (a) of
24	22		this section; and
25	23		(2) make recommendations to the legislature regarding
26	24		the repeal or amendment of laws that are identified as being overly
27	25		restrictive or not otherwise serving the best interest of justice.
28	26		(c) The commission is composed of nine members appointed as
29	27		follows:
30	28		(1) two members appointed by the governor;
31	29		(2) two members appointed by the lieutenant governor;
32	30		(3) two members appointed by the speaker of the house
33	31		of representatives;
34		-	(4) ~~one member~~ appointed by the chief justice of the
	32	+	(4) two members appointed by the chief justice of the
35	33		Supreme Court of Texas; and
36		-	(5) ~~two members~~ appointed by the presiding judge of
37		-	~~the~~ Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
	34	+	(5) one member appointed by the presiding judge of the
	35	+	Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
38	36		(d) The officials making appointments to the commission
39	37		under Subsection (c) of this section shall ensure that the
40	38		membership of the commission includes judges, legal scholars, and
41	39		relevant business and governmental interests.
42	40		(e) The governor shall designate one member of the
43	41		commission to serve as the presiding officer of the commission.
44	42		(f) A member of the commission is not entitled to
45	43		compensation or reimbursement of expenses.
46	44		(g) The commission shall meet at the call of the presiding
47	45		officer.
48	46		(h) Not later than November 1, 2020, the commission shall
49	47		report the commission's findings and recommendations to the
50	48		governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
51	49		representatives, the Supreme Court of Texas, and the Texas Court of
52	50		Criminal Appeals. The commission shall include in its
53	51		recommendations any specific statutes that the commission
54	52		recommends repealing or amending.
55	53		SECTION 2. APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS. Not later than the 60th
56	54		day after the effective date of this Act, the governor, the
57	55		lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
58	56		the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, and the presiding
59	57		judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals shall appoint the
60	58		members of the commission created under this Act.
61	59		SECTION 3. ABOLITION OF COMMISSION. The commission is
62	60		abolished and this Act expires December 31, 2020.
63	61		SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect
64	62		immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members
65	63		elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas
66	64		Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for
67	65		immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2019.