Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB629 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
	1	+	87R6462 EAS-F
1	2		By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 629
2		-	(In the Senate - Filed February 9, 2021; March 11, 2021,
3		-	read first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce;
4		-	April 7, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5		-	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 7, 2021,
6		-	sent to printer.)
7		-	Click here to see the committee vote
8		-	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 629 By: Nichols
9	3
10	4
11	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
12	6		AN ACT
13		-	relating to cemeteries in certain municipalities.
	7	+	relating to an exemption for certain cemeteries from cemetery
	8	+	location restrictions.
14	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	10		SECTION 1. Section 711.008, Health and Safety Code, is
16		-	amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (l) to
	11	+	amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (d-1) to
17	12		read as follows:
18		-	(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b), (f), (g), (g-1),
19		-	(h), [and] (k), and (l), an individual, corporation, partnership,
20		-	firm, trust, or association may not establish or operate a
21		-	cemetery, or use any land for the interment of remains, located:
22		-	(1) in or within one mile of the boundaries of a
23		-	municipality with a population of 5,000 to 25,000;
24		-	(2) in or within two miles of the boundaries of a
25		-	municipality with a population of 25,000 to 50,000;
26		-	(3) in or within three miles of the boundaries of a
27		-	municipality with a population of 50,000 to 100,000;
28		-	(4) in or within four miles of the boundaries of a
29		-	municipality with a population of 100,000 to 200,000; or
30		-	(5) in or within five miles of the boundaries of a
31		-	municipality with a population of at least 200,000.
32		-	(l) Not later than September 1, 2022, an individual,
33		-	corporation, partnership, firm, trust, or association may file a
34		-	written application with the governing body of a municipality to
35		-	which this subsection applies to establish or use a cemetery
36		-	located inside the legal boundaries of the municipality. The
37		-	municipality by ordinance shall prescribe the information to be
38		-	included in the application. The governing body by ordinance may
39		-	authorize the establishment or use of the cemetery if the
40		-	municipality determines and states in the ordinance that the
41		-	establishment or use of the cemetery does not adversely affect
42		-	public health, safety, and welfare. This subsection applies only
43		-	to a municipality:
	13	+	(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to:
	14	+	(1) a cemetery heretofore established and operating;
	15	+	(2) the establishment and use of a columbarium by an
	16	+	organized religious society or sect that is exempt from income
	17	+	taxation under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by
	18	+	being listed under Section 501(c)(3) of that code, as part of or
	19	+	attached to the principal church building owned by the society or
	20	+	sect;
	21	+	(3) the establishment and use of a columbarium by an
	22	+	organized religious society or sect that is exempt from income
	23	+	taxation under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by
	24	+	being listed under Section 501(c)(3) of that code, on land that:
	25	+	(A) is owned by the society or sect; and
	26	+	(B) is part of the campus on which an existing
	27	+	principal church building is located;
	28	+	(4) the establishment and use of a columbarium on the
	29	+	campus of a private or independent institution of higher education,
	30	+	as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, that is wholly or
	31	+	substantially controlled, managed, owned, or supported by or
	32	+	otherwise affiliated with an organized religious society or sect
	33	+	that is exempt from income taxation under Section 501(a), Internal
	34	+	Revenue Code of 1986, by being listed under Section 501(c)(3) of
	35	+	that code, if a place of worship is located on the campus;
	36	+	(5) the establishment and use of a mausoleum that is:
	37	+	(A) constructed beneath the principal church
	38	+	building owned by an organized religious society or sect that:
	39	+	(i) is exempt from income taxation under
	40	+	Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by being listed
	41	+	under Section 501(c)(3) of that code; and
	42	+	(ii) has recognized religious traditions
	43	+	and practices of interring the remains of ordained clergy in or
	44	+	below the principal church building; and
	45	+	(B) used only for the interment of the remains of
	46	+	ordained clergy of that organized religious society or sect;
	47	+	(6) the establishment and operation, if authorized in
	48	+	accordance with Subsection (h), of a perpetual care cemetery [by an
	49	+	organized religious society or sect] that:
	50	+	(A) is exempt from income taxation under Section
	51	+	501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by being listed under
	52	+	Section 501(c)(3) of that code;
	53	+	(B) has been in existence for at least five
	54	+	years;
	55	+	(C) has at least $500,000 in assets; and
	56	+	(D) establishes and operates the cemetery on land
	57	+	that:
	58	+	(i) is owned by the society or sect;
	59	+	(ii) together with any other land owned by
	60	+	the society or sect and adjacent to the land on which the cemetery
	61	+	is located, is not less than 10 acres; and
	62	+	(iii) is in a municipality with a
	63	+	population of at least one million that is located predominantly in
	64	+	a county that has a total area of less than 1,000 square miles; or
	65	+	(7) the establishment and use of a private family
	66	+	cemetery by an organization that is exempt from income taxation
	67	+	under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by being
	68	+	listed under Section 501(c)(3) of that code, on land that is:
	69	+	(A) owned by the organization; and
	70	+	(B) located in a county:
	71	+	(i) with a population of more than 125,000;
	72	+	and
	73	+	(ii) that is adjacent to a county that has a
	74	+	population of more than 1.5 million and in which more than 75
	75	+	percent of the population lives in a single municipality.
	76	+	(d-1) Subsection (a) does not apply to a cemetery
	77	+	established and operating before September 1, 2021, in a
	78	+	municipality:
44	79		(1) with a population of not less than 75,000 and not
45	80		more than 95,000; and
46	81		(2) in which a state veterans cemetery is located.
47	82		SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
48		-	* * * * *