BILL ANALYSIS

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

One of the primary functions of a notary public is to attempt to decrease the risk of fraud. Current law, however, prevents notaries public from recording information, such as the expiration date of identification documents presented to them, that may assist in that core function. What's more, notaries public do not have a statutory mechanism to decline a request to affix a notary's seal improperly, which could be exploited easily by a person looking to commit fraud. At the same time, notaries public have raised concerns about the legislative cap on what they can charge for their services, which does not keep up with inflation and has not been updated since the 1990s.

H.B. 255 would prohibit notaries public from providing copies of their seal to anyone else or from affixing their seal to any document except to authenticate their official act. It would authorize notary publics to record the expiration date of identification cards or passports that are presented to them for identification purposes. The bill also would update the service fee cap for notaries public and adjust the same every five years based on inflation. Accordingly, H.B. 255 would decrease fraud and ensure that notaries public are compensated fairly for their work.

H.B. 1074 amends current law relating to construction of certain laws prohibiting discrimination, distinctions, inducements, rebates, and certain other conduct related to property and casualty insurance.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the commissioner of insurance in SECTION 1 (Section 1806.002, Insurance Code) of this bill.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter A, Chapter 1806, Insurance Code, by adding Section 1806.002, as follows:

Sec. 1806.002. CONSTRUCTION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS; SERVICES RELATED TO LOSS CONTROL. (a) Provides that nothing in Section 1806.053 (Discriminations or Distinctions), 1806.054 (Other Prohibited Inducements), 1806.059 (Certain Promotional Practices Authorized), 1806.104 (Prohibited Acts), 1806.1041 (Certain Promotional Practices Authorized), 1806.153 (Unjust Discrimination; Rebates), 1806.1541 (Certain Promotional Practices Authorized), or 1806.156 (Acceptance of Rebate or Other Inducement; Criminal Penalty) is authorized to be construed as:

(1) permitting an unfair method of competition or a false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice under Section 17.46 (Deceptive Trade Practices Unlawful), Business and Commerce Code; or

(2) prohibiting an insurer or an insurer's agent from offering or giving to an insured or applicant, for free or at a discounted price in a manner that is not unfairly discriminatory to insureds or applicants of the same class and of essentially the same hazard, services or other offerings not specified in the insurance policy that relate to loss control of the risks covered under the policy, subject to Subsection (b).

(b) Requires that the cost to the insurer or the insurer's agent offering the product or service to any given customer be reasonable in comparison to that customer's premiums or insurance coverage for the policy class.

(c) Prohibits the insurer or insurer's agent offering the product or service, other than for purposes related to loss control of risks covered under the policy, from providing to another person any data or other information obtained about the customer from or in connection with the product or service.

(d) Authorizes the commissioner of insurance to adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2023.