Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB67 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R795 RDS-D
2	2	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 67
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a database of and the barring from state contracts of
8	8	certain employers for wage theft.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 301, Labor Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 301.0705 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 301.0705. DATABASE OF CERTAIN EMPLOYERS BARRED FROM
13	13	STATE CONTRACTS FOR WAGE THEFT. (a) In this section:
14	14	(1) "Attorney representing the state" means a district
15	15	attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney
16	16	performing the duties of a district attorney.
17	17	(2) "Employee" and "employer" have the meanings
18	18	assigned by Section 61.001.
19	19	(b) The commission shall make available on its Internet
20	20	website a publicly accessible list of all employers in this state
21	21	that have been:
22	22	(1) assessed an administrative penalty under Section
23	23	61.053;
24	24	(2) ordered to pay wages by a final order of the
25	25	commission and have failed to comply with Section 61.063; or
26	26	(3) convicted of an offense under:
27	27	(A) Section 61.019; or
28	28	(B) Section 31.04, Penal Code, if the offense
29	29	involved the theft of a service that was rendered by an employee of
30	30	the employer.
31	31	(c) For an employer that is a business entity, the database
32	32	must include the name under which the entity operates and the name
33	33	of each individual who is an owner of the entity and actively
34	34	involved in the management of the entity.
35	35	(d) The commission must provide notice to an employer not
36	36	later than the 180th day before the date the employer is listed in
37	37	the database.
38	38	(e) The commission by rule shall establish a process by
39	39	which an employer may, at any time after receiving notice under
40	40	Subsection (d), dispute the employer's initial inclusion or
41	41	continued inclusion in the database, as applicable. The process
42	42	must require the commission to investigate and make a final
43	43	determination regarding an employer dispute under this subsection
44	44	not later than the 21st day after the date the dispute is filed.
45	45	(f) In a dispute regarding an employer's continued
46	46	inclusion in the database under Subsection (e), the commission
47	47	shall consider any material changes to the employer's management or
48	48	ownership following the incident for which the employer was
49	49	initially included in the database.
50	50	(g) The commission shall list an employer in the database
51	51	until the third anniversary of the date the penalty is assessed or
52	52	the employer is convicted, unless the employer is removed from the
53	53	database as a result of the commission's determination following a
54	54	dispute under Subsection (e).
55	55	(h) An attorney representing the state shall report to the
56	56	commission the name of each employer that is prosecuted and
57	57	convicted in the attorney's jurisdiction of an offense described by
58	58	Subsection (b)(3).
59	59	(i) For purposes of this section, a person has been
60	60	convicted of an offense if the person was adjudged guilty of the
61	61	offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for
62	62	a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision, regardless
63	63	of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether
64	64	the sentence was probated and the person was subsequently
65	65	discharged from community supervision.
66	66	(j) This section does not impose any additional requirement
67	67	on a contractor performing work under a contract that is subject to:
68	68	(1) Chapter 2258, Government Code; or
69	69	(2) the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. Section 3141 et
70	70	seq.) or another federal law that makes the Davis-Bacon Act
71	71	applicable to the contract.
72	72	(k) Using the procedures prescribed under Section 2155.077,
73	73	Government Code, the comptroller shall bar an employer listed in
74	74	the commission's database under this section from participating in
75	75	state contracts until the employer is no longer listed in the
76	76	database.
77	77	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
78	78	to an employer:
79	79	(1) for whom an administrative penalty is assessed on
80	80	or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
81	81	conduct giving rise to the penalty occurred before, on, or after
82	82	that date;
83	83	(2) who is subject to a final order of the Texas
84	84	Workforce Commission entered on or after the effective date of this
85	85	Act, regardless of whether the conduct giving rise to the order
86	86	occurred before, on, or after that date; or
87	87	(3) for whom a judgment of conviction is entered, or
88	88	who is placed on deferred adjudication community supervision, on or
89	89	after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
90	90	offense for which the employer was convicted, or for which the
91	91	employer was placed on deferred adjudication community
92	92	supervision, was committed before, on, or after that date.
93	93	SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2023, the Texas
94	94	Workforce Commission shall establish the database required by
95	95	Section 301.0705, Labor Code, as added by this Act.
96	96	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.