89R400 MPF-D By: Miles S.B. No. 278 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to employment restrictions for former Texas Commission on Environmental Quality employees; providing an administrative penalty. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 5, Water Code, is amended by adding Section 5.062 to read as follows: Sec. 5.062. CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT FOR FORMER EMPLOYEE RESTRICTED. A former commission employee may not accept employment in an industry regulated by the commission, as described in Section 5.013(a), before the second anniversary of the date the person ceased to be a commission employee. SECTION 2. Section 7.052, Water Code, is amended by adding Subsection (b-5) to read as follows: (b-5) A person who hires a former commission employee in violation of Section 5.062 is subject to an administrative penalty not to exceed an amount that is equal to three times the employee's salary for the position hired. SECTION 3. Section 5.062, Water Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a person who ceases to be a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality employee on or after the effective date of this Act. SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.