Bill Text: TX HB5228 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the issuance of a driver's license or personal identification certificate to certain individuals and the use of the identification fee exemption account to fund the fee waivers for those individuals.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-24 - Referred to Homeland Security & Public Safety [HB5228 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB5228-Introduced.html
88R4811 JAM-D | ||
By: Neave Criado | H.B. No. 5228 |
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relating to the issuance of a driver's license or personal | ||
identification certificate to certain individuals and the use of | ||
the identification fee exemption account to fund the fee waivers | ||
for those individuals. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 521, Transportation Code, | ||
is amended by adding Section 521.184 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 521.184. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE OR CERTIFICATE TO | ||
HOMELESS INDIVIDUAL. (a) In this section, "homeless individual": | ||
(1) means an individual who: | ||
(A) lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate | ||
nighttime residence; or | ||
(B) has a primary nighttime residence that is: | ||
(i) a supervised publicly or privately | ||
operated shelter designed to provide temporary living | ||
accommodations, including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and | ||
transitional housing for the mentally ill; | ||
(ii) an institution that provides a | ||
temporary residence for individuals intended to be | ||
institutionalized; or | ||
(iii) a public or private place not | ||
designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping | ||
accommodation for human beings; and | ||
(2) does not include an individual who is imprisoned | ||
or otherwise detained in a correctional facility. | ||
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (f) and subject to | ||
Section 521.4265, a homeless individual is entitled to an exemption | ||
from the payment of fees under this chapter for the issuance of a | ||
driver's license or personal identification certificate. | ||
(c) For the purposes of this section, a person's status as a | ||
homeless individual must be confirmed by a notarized affidavit | ||
from: | ||
(1) an employee of a homeless shelter or transitional | ||
housing facility; | ||
(2) an employee of an organization that provides to | ||
homeless individuals or assists homeless individuals in obtaining | ||
services such as health services, mental or behavioral health | ||
services, substance abuse services, public assistance services, or | ||
employment services; | ||
(3) an attorney licensed to practice law in this | ||
state; | ||
(4) a peace officer who is an official homeless | ||
liaison; | ||
(5) an employee of a faith-based organization that | ||
provides benefits or services to homeless individuals; or | ||
(6) a counselor or administrator at a school attended | ||
by the homeless individual. | ||
(d) A person may not charge a fee for the affidavit | ||
described by Subsection (c). | ||
(e) An affidavit described by Subsection (c) may not be used | ||
for a driver's license or personal identification certificate | ||
application if the affidavit was signed more than 60 days before the | ||
date the application is submitted. | ||
(f) Subsection (b) does not apply to a person subject to the | ||
registration requirements of Chapter 62, Code of Criminal | ||
Procedure. | ||
(g) Rules adopted under this section regarding the issuance | ||
of a personal identification certificate to a homeless child or | ||
youth, as defined by Section 521.1015, must be consistent with the | ||
provisions of that section. | ||
SECTION 2. Sections 521.4265(b) and (c), Transportation | ||
Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) From the money in the identification fee exemption | ||
account the department shall: | ||
(1) request that the comptroller transfer to the Texas | ||
Workforce Commission amounts sufficient to cover the cost of | ||
implementing the program under Section 521.168, including amounts | ||
sufficient for the payment by the Texas Workforce Commission of: | ||
(A) fees to entities other than the department; | ||
and | ||
(B) the Texas Workforce Commission's | ||
implementation costs; and | ||
(2) for each exemption granted under Section 521.1015, | ||
521.1016, [ |
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Texas mobility fund an amount that is equal to the amount of the | ||
waived fee that would otherwise be deposited to the mobility fund. | ||
(c) The department may not: | ||
(1) request a transfer under Subsection (b)(1) if the | ||
balance of the account for the fiscal year is less than three times | ||
the amount expended in the previous fiscal year for the waivers | ||
provided by Sections 521.1015(e), 521.1016, [ |
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521.184; or | ||
(2) grant an exemption under Section 521.1015, | ||
521.1016, [ |
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identification fee exemption account to meet the requirements of | ||
Subsection (b)(2). | ||
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply to an | ||
application for a driver's license or personal identification | ||
certificate submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. | ||
An application for a driver's license or personal identification | ||
certificate submitted before the effective date of this Act is | ||
governed by the law in effect on the date the application was | ||
submitted, and the former law is continued in effect for that | ||
purpose. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |