86R10744 YDB-F
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 2047
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to pro bono legal services for veterans and service
members and an exemption from the state bar membership fee for
attorneys providing those services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 81.054, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) A member of the state bar who is in good standing is
not required to pay an annual membership fee if in the preceding
year the member provided the required number of qualifying pro bono
legal services to veterans in accordance with rules adopted by the
supreme court under this chapter. The rules must include standards
governing this membership fee exemption, including:
(1) the number of pro bono hours required for the
exemption;
(2) the types of pro bono legal services that qualify
for the exemption; and
(3) the pro bono legal services programs through which
the hours may qualify for the exemption.
SECTION 2. Section 434.017(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Money in the fund may only be appropriated to the Texas
Veterans Commission. Money appropriated under this subsection
shall be used to:
(1) make grants to address veterans' needs;
(2) make grants to provide pro bono legal services to
veterans, active duty members of the United States armed forces,
and members of the state military forces;
(3) administer the fund; and
(4) [(3)] analyze and investigate data received from
the federal Public Assistance Reporting Information System (PARIS)
that is administered by the Administration for Children and
Families of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services.
SECTION 3. Section 434.0171, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 434.0171. STATE EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS TO FUND FOR
VETERANS' ASSISTANCE. For purposes of Subchapter I, Chapter 659:
(1) the Texas Veterans Commission, for the sole
purpose of managing the fund for veterans' assistance, is
considered an eligible charitable organization entitled to
participate in the state employee charitable campaign; and
(2) a state employee is entitled to authorize a
deduction for contributions to the Texas Veterans Commission for
the purposes of managing the fund for veterans' assistance as a
charitable contribution under Section 659.132, and the Texas
Veterans Commission may use the contributions for the purposes
listed in Section 434.017(c)[, as redesignated and amended by
Chapter 1418 (H.B. 3107), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2007].
SECTION 4. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the Texas Supreme Court shall adopt the rules
necessary to implement Section 81.054(b-1), Government Code, as
added by this Act.
(b) Section 81.054(b-1), Government Code, as added by this
Act, applies to a fee for membership or renewal of membership in the
State Bar of Texas that is due on or after January 1, 2020. A fee
for membership or renewal of membership that is due before that date
is governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective
date of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.