88R6812 DIO-F
By: Bell of Montgomery H.B. No. 5094
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. Sections 502.357(b), (c), and (d),
Transportation Code, are 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
office of the attorney general [Texas Department of 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; and
(2) make lease payments to the master lease purchase
program for the financing of the driver's license reengineering
project.
(c) Subject to appropriation, fees collected under this
section may be used by the Department of Public Safety, the office
of the attorney general [Texas Department of Insurance], the
Department of Information Resources, and the department to carry
out Subchapter N, Chapter 601.
(d) The Department of Public Safety, the office of the
attorney general [Texas Department of Insurance], the Department of
Information Resources, and the department shall jointly adopt rules
and develop forms necessary to administer this section.
SECTION 2. Section 601.451, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 601.451. DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
"implementing agencies" means:
(1) the department;
(2) the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles;
(3) the Texas Department of Insurance; [and]
(4) the Department of Information Resources; and
(5) the office of the attorney general.
SECTION 3. Section 601.452(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The office of the attorney general [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 4. Section 601.453(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The office of the attorney general [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 5. Not later than January 1, 2024, the following are
transferred from the Texas Department of Insurance to the office of
the attorney general:
(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. Not later than the 60th day after the effective
date of this Act, the Texas Department of Insurance and the office
of the attorney general 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 September 1, 2023.