| 1 | 1 | | By: Spiller (Senate Sponsor - Hughes) H.B. No. 5214 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 2023; |
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| 3 | 3 | | May 5, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on State |
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| 4 | 4 | | Affairs; May 10, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote: |
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| 5 | 5 | | Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 10, 2023, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | 6 | | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | COMMITTEE VOTE |
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| 10 | 10 | | YeaNayAbsentPNV |
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| 11 | 11 | | HughesX |
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| 12 | 12 | | PaxtonX |
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| 13 | 13 | | BettencourtX |
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| 14 | 14 | | BirdwellX |
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| 15 | 15 | | LaMantiaX |
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| 16 | 16 | | MenéndezX |
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| 17 | 17 | | MiddletonX |
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| 18 | 18 | | ParkerX |
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| 19 | 19 | | PerryX |
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| 20 | 20 | | SchwertnerX |
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| 21 | 21 | | ZaffiriniX |
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| 22 | 22 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 23 | 23 | | AN ACT |
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| 24 | 24 | | relating to actions brought by the attorney general on behalf of |
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| 25 | 25 | | certain persons under the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act |
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| 26 | 26 | | of 1983. |
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| 27 | 27 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 28 | 28 | | SECTION 1. Section 15.21, Business & Commerce Code, is |
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| 29 | 29 | | amended by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | (d) The attorney general may bring a civil action against a |
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| 31 | 31 | | person on behalf of an individual or governmental entity for injury |
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| 32 | 32 | | to that individual's or entity's business or property caused, |
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| 33 | 33 | | directly or indirectly, by the person's violation of Section |
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| 34 | 34 | | 15.05(a), (b), or (c). An action under this subsection may be |
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| 35 | 35 | | brought in district court in Travis County, or in any county in this |
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| 36 | 36 | | state in which a named defendant resides, does business, or |
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| 37 | 37 | | maintains a principal office, or in which the individual or |
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| 38 | 38 | | governmental entity on whose behalf the action is brought resides |
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| 39 | 39 | | at the time of the cause of action or any part of the cause of action |
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| 40 | 40 | | accrues. If the attorney general prevails in an action under this |
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| 41 | 41 | | subsection, the attorney general shall recover actual damages |
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| 42 | 42 | | sustained by the individual or governmental entity, interest on |
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| 43 | 43 | | actual damages for the period beginning on the date of service of |
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| 44 | 44 | | the attorney general's pleading setting forth a claim under the |
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| 45 | 45 | | antitrust laws and ending on the date of judgment (the rate of such |
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| 46 | 46 | | interest to be in accordance with Texas law regarding postjudgment |
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| 47 | 47 | | interest rates and the amount of interest to be adjusted by the |
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| 48 | 48 | | court if it finds that the award of all or part of such interest is |
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| 49 | 49 | | unjust in the circumstances), and the cost of suit, including a |
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| 50 | 50 | | reasonable attorney's fee, and if applicable, expert witness fees; |
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| 51 | 51 | | provided, however, that if the trier of fact finds that the unlawful |
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| 52 | 52 | | conduct was willful or flagrant, the court shall increase the |
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| 53 | 53 | | recovery to threefold the damages sustained and the cost of suit, |
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| 54 | 54 | | including a reasonable attorney's fee and, if applicable, expert |
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| 55 | 55 | | witness fees; provided that interest on actual damages as |
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| 56 | 56 | | specified above may not be recovered when recovered damages are |
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| 57 | 57 | | increased threefold. In an action under this subsection in which a |
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| 58 | 58 | | claim is asserted against a defendant relating to injury to both |
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| 59 | 59 | | direct and indirect purchasers, the court shall take all steps |
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| 60 | 60 | | necessary to avoid duplicative recovery from that defendant. |
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| 61 | 61 | | (e) For purposes of this section, "governmental entity" |
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| 62 | 62 | | means: |
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| 63 | 63 | | (1) this state, including each department, board, |
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| 64 | 64 | | agency, instrumentality, authority, or commission of this state; |
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| 65 | 65 | | (2) a political subdivision of this state, including a |
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| 66 | 66 | | county, city, municipality, school district, local improvement |
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| 67 | 67 | | district, law enforcement authority, or special district, |
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| 68 | 68 | | including a water, sanitation, fire protection, metropolitan, |
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| 69 | 69 | | irrigation, drainage, or other special district; |
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| 70 | 70 | | (3) a municipal, quasi-municipal, or public |
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| 71 | 71 | | corporation organized under the Texas Constitution or other law; |
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| 72 | 72 | | and |
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| 73 | 73 | | (4) a department, board, agency, instrumentality, |
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| 74 | 74 | | authority, or commission of an entity described by Subdivision (2) |
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| 75 | 75 | | or (3). |
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| 76 | 76 | | SECTION 2. Sections 15.21(d) and (e), Business & Commerce |
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| 77 | 77 | | Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a cause of action that |
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| 78 | 78 | | accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 79 | 79 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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| 80 | 80 | | * * * * * |
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