88R390 JAM-F
By: Bernal H.B. No. 238
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of migrant labor housing facilities;
changing the amount of a civil penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter LL, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by amending Section 2306.933 and adding Sections 2306.934
and 2306.935 to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.933. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) A person who violates
this subchapter or a rule adopted under this subchapter is subject
to a civil penalty of not less than $50 for each person occupying
the migrant labor housing facility in violation of this subchapter
[$200] for each day that the violation occurs.
(b) An [The county attorney for the county in which the
violation occurred, or the attorney general, at the request of the
department, shall bring an] action [in the name of the state] to
collect a [the] penalty under this section may be brought by:
(1) the department through the contested case hearing
process described by Section 2306.930(b);
(2) the county attorney for the county in which the
violation occurred, or the attorney general, at the request of the
department; or
(3) a migrant agricultural worker who, at the time of
the violation, lived in the migrant labor housing facility that is
the subject of the violation.
(c) The department by rule shall adopt a penalty schedule
that increases the amount of the penalty assessed against a person
who repeatedly violates this subchapter or rules adopted under this
subchapter.
(d) A penalty collected under Subsection (b)(1) or (2) shall
be deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund and may be
appropriated only to the department for the enforcement of this
subchapter.
Sec. 2306.934. RETALIATION PROHIBITED. A person who owns,
establishes, maintains, operates, or otherwise provides a migrant
labor housing facility, a person who employs a migrant agricultural
worker who occupies a migrant labor housing facility, or a farm
labor contractor may not retaliate against a person for filing a
complaint or providing information in good faith relating to a
possible violation of this subchapter.
Sec. 2306.935. ATTORNEY'S FEES. The court in a suit brought
under this subchapter may award reasonable attorney's fees to the
prevailing party.
SECTION 2. Not later than March 1, 2024, the Texas
Department of Housing and Community Affairs shall adopt the rules
necessary to implement Subchapter LL, Chapter 2306, Government
Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act in amending
Section 2306.933, Government Code, and adding Section 2306.935,
Government Code, applies only to a violation that occurs on or after
the effective date of this Act. A violation that occurs before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the violation occurred, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, a violation
occurs before the effective date of this Act if any element of the
violation occurs before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.