86R9992 AAF-F
By: Lucio III H.B. No. 3737
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration of the financial responsibility
verification program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 502.357(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Fees collected under this section shall be deposited to
the credit of the state highway fund except that the comptroller
shall provide for a portion of the fees to be deposited first to the
credit of a special fund in the state treasury outside the general
revenue fund to be known as the TexasSure Fund in a total amount
that is necessary to cover the total amount appropriated to the
[Texas] Department of Public Safety [Insurance] from that fund and
for the remaining fees to be deposited to the state highway fund.
Subject to appropriations, the money deposited to the credit of the
state highway fund under this section may be used by the Department
of Public Safety to:
(1) support the Department of Public Safety's
reengineering of the driver's license system to provide for the
issuance by the Department of Public Safety of a driver's license or
personal identification certificate, to include use of image
comparison technology;
(2) establish and maintain a system to support the
driver responsibility program under Chapter 708; and
(3) make lease payments to the master lease purchase
program for the financing of the driver's license reengineering
project.
SECTION 2. Section 601.452(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The department [Texas Department of Insurance] in
consultation with the other implementing agencies shall establish a
program for verification of whether owners of motor vehicles have
established financial responsibility. The program established
must be:
(1) the program most likely to:
(A) reduce the number of uninsured motorists in
this state;
(B) operate reliably;
(C) be cost-effective;
(D) sufficiently protect the privacy of the motor
vehicle owners;
(E) sufficiently safeguard the security and
integrity of information provided by insurance companies;
(F) identify and employ a method of compliance
that improves public convenience; and
(G) provide information that is accurate and
current; and
(2) capable of being audited by an independent
auditor.
SECTION 3. Section 601.453(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The department [Texas Department of Insurance] in
consultation with the other implementing agencies, under a
competitive bidding procedure, shall select an agent to develop,
implement, operate, and maintain the program.
SECTION 4. Subchapter N, Chapter 601, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 601.455 to read as follows:
Sec. 601.455. ENFORCEMENT. The commissioner of insurance
may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, take any action
authorized under Chapters 82, 83, and 84, Insurance Code, or any
other applicable law, against an insurance company that provides
motor vehicle liability insurance policies in this state if the
commissioner of insurance determines that the insurance company is
in violation of or has failed to comply with Section 601.454 or
rules adopted under this subchapter.
SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2020, the following are
transferred from the Texas Department of Insurance to the
Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas:
(1) the powers, duties, functions, and activities of
the Texas Department of Insurance relating to the establishment and
operation of the financial responsibility verification program
under Subchapter N, Chapter 601, Transportation Code;
(2) any obligations and contracts of the Texas
Department of Insurance that are directly related to implementing a
power, duty, function, or activity transferred under this section;
and
(3) all property and records in the custody of the
Texas Department of Insurance that are related to a power, duty,
function, or activity transferred under this section and all funds
appropriated by the legislature for that power, duty, function, or
activity.
SECTION 6. The Texas Department of Insurance and the
Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas shall enter into a
memorandum of understanding that establishes a plan for the
identification and transfer of the records, property, and unspent
appropriations of the Texas Department of Insurance that are used
for purposes of the department's powers and duties directly related
to the establishment and operation of the financial responsibility
verification program under Subchapter N, Chapter 601,
Transportation Code.
SECTION 7. 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, 2019.