86R1163 SRS-D
By: Oliverson H.B. No. 846
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the abolition of student loan default or breach of a
student loan repayment or scholarship contract as a ground for
nonrenewal or other disciplinary action in relation to a
professional or occupational license and to certain duties of state
agencies and political subdivisions in relation to delinquent or
defaulted student loans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 57.49, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 57.49. COOPERATION OF STATE AGENCIES AND SUBDIVISIONS.
Each agency and political subdivision of the state shall cooperate
with the corporation in providing information to the agency's or
political subdivision's clients concerning student financial aid,
including information about default prevention. [Each agency and
political subdivision shall provide information to the corporation
on request to assist the corporation in curing delinquent loans and
collecting defaulted loans.]
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 57, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 57.492 to read as follows:
Sec. 57.492. PROHIBITION AGAINST DENIAL OR NONRENEWAL OF
PROFESSIONAL OR OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE FOR STUDENT LOAN DEFAULT;
DUTIES OF LICENSING AGENCY. (a) In this section:
(1) "License" means a certificate or similar form of
permission issued or renewed by a licensing agency and required by
law to engage in a profession or occupation.
(2) "Licensee" means a person to whom a licensing
agency issues a license.
(3) "Licensing agency" means a board, commission,
department, or other agency in the executive branch of state
government that issues or renews a license.
(b) A licensing agency may not deny the issuance of a
license to a person or the renewal of a person's license based
solely on the default status of the person's student loan
guaranteed by the corporation.
(c) A licensing agency shall cooperate with the corporation
in providing information to a licensee concerning student financial
aid, including information about loan default prevention.
(d) A licensing agency is not required to assist the
corporation in curing delinquent loans or collecting defaulted
loans, including by providing licensee lists to the corporation.
SECTION 3. Section 157.015(g), Finance Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(g) The commissioner may deny the renewal application for a
residential mortgage loan originator license if:
(1) the person seeking the renewal of the residential
mortgage loan originator license is in violation of this chapter,
Chapter 156, or Chapter 180, an applicable rule adopted under this
chapter, Chapter 156, or Chapter 180, or any order previously
issued to the person by the commissioner;
(2) the person seeking renewal of the residential
mortgage loan originator license is in default in the payment of any
administrative penalty, fee, charge, or other indebtedness owed
under this title; or
(3) [the person seeking the renewal of the residential
mortgage loan originator license is in default on a student loan
administered by the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation,
under Section 57.491, Education Code; or
[(4)] during the current term of the license, the
commissioner becomes aware of any fact, other than default on a
student loan administered by the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan
Corporation, that would have been grounds for denial of an original
license if the fact had been known by the commissioner on the date
the license was granted.
SECTION 4. Sections 466.155(a) and (g), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) After a hearing, the director shall deny an application
for a license or the commission shall suspend or revoke a license if
the director or commission, as applicable, finds that the applicant
or sales agent:
(1) is an individual who:
(A) has been convicted of a felony, criminal
fraud, gambling or a gambling-related offense, or a misdemeanor
involving moral turpitude, if less than 10 years has elapsed since
the termination of the sentence, parole, mandatory supervision, or
probation served for the offense;
(B) is or has been a professional gambler;
(C) is married to an individual:
(i) described in Paragraph (A) or (B); or
(ii) who is currently delinquent in the
payment of any state tax;
(D) is an officer or employee of the commission
or a lottery operator; or
(E) is a spouse, child, brother, sister, or
parent residing as a member of the same household in the principal
place of residence of a person described by Paragraph (D);
(2) is not an individual, and an individual described
in Subdivision (1):
(A) is an officer or director of the applicant or
sales agent;
(B) holds more than 10 percent of the stock in the
applicant or sales agent;
(C) holds an equitable interest greater than 10
percent in the applicant or sales agent;
(D) is a creditor of the applicant or sales agent
who holds more than 10 percent of the applicant's or sales agent's
outstanding debt;
(E) is the owner or lessee of a business that the
applicant or sales agent conducts or through which the applicant
will conduct a ticket sales agency;
(F) shares or will share in the profits, other
than stock dividends, of the applicant or sales agent; or
(G) participates in managing the affairs of the
applicant or sales agent;
(3) has been finally determined to be[:
[(A)] delinquent in the payment of a tax or other
money collected by the comptroller, the Texas Workforce Commission,
or the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission;
[(B) in default on a loan made under Chapter 52,
Education Code; or
[(C) in default on a loan guaranteed under
Chapter 57, Education Code;]
(4) is a person whose location for the sales agency is:
(A) a location licensed for games of bingo under
Chapter 2001, Occupations Code;
(B) on land that is owned by:
(i) this state; or
(ii) a political subdivision of this state
and on which is located a public primary or secondary school, an
institution of higher education, or an agency of the state; or
(C) a location for which a person holds a wine and
beer retailer's permit, mixed beverage permit, mixed beverage late
hours permit, private club registration permit, or private club
late hours permit issued under Chapter 25, 28, 29, 32, or 33,
Alcoholic Beverage Code, other than a location for which a person
holds a wine and beer retailer's permit issued under Chapter 25,
Alcoholic Beverage Code, that derives less than 30 percent of the
location's gross receipts from the sale or service of alcoholic
beverages; or
(5) has violated this chapter or a rule adopted under
this chapter.
(g) For purposes of Subsection (a)(3), the comptroller,
Texas Workforce Commission, and Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission[, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Texas
Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation] shall each provide the
executive director with a report of persons who have been finally
determined to be delinquent in the payment of any money owed to or
collected by that agency. The commission shall adopt rules
regarding the form and frequency of reports under this subsection.
SECTION 5. The following laws are repealed:
(1) Section 57.491, Education Code;
(2) Section 82.022(c), Government Code;
(3) Section 154.110(e), Government Code; and
(4) Chapter 56, Occupations Code.
SECTION 6. 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.