Bill Text: TX HB2139 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to statutory construction.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-04 - Postponed 1/14/25 10:00 AM [HB2139 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB2139-Comm_Sub.html
88R19816 MAW-F | |||
By: Burrows, Cain | H.B. No. 2139 | ||
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2139: | |||
By: Slawson | C.S.H.B. No. 2139 |
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relating to statutory construction. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Sections 311.016(2) and (3), Government Code, | ||
are amended to read as follows: | ||
(2) "Shall" imposes a duty. The use of "shall" does not | ||
indicate that an action is discretionary. | ||
(3) "Must" imposes a requirement and either creates a | ||
duty or creates or recognizes a condition precedent. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 311, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Sections 311.0211 and 311.0212 to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 311.0211. INTENTIONALISM PROHIBITED. When | ||
interpreting a statute, a court: | ||
(1) may not inquire into what members of the | ||
legislature intended to accomplish by enacting the statute; and | ||
(2) shall enforce the statutory text as written and in | ||
accordance with the meaning that the words of the statute would have | ||
to an ordinary speaker of the English language. | ||
Sec. 311.0212. USE OF LEGISLATURE HISTORY PROHIBITED. When | ||
interpreting a statute, a court may not consider, consult, cite, | ||
rely on, or give any weight to: | ||
(1) any statement from an individual legislator, | ||
including a statement by the author or sponsor of the bill that | ||
enacted the statute or a statement made during a committee hearing | ||
or debate of the bill on the floor of a house of the legislature; | ||
(2) a committee report; or | ||
(3) a statement of a presiding officer or the governor | ||
made on the signing of the bill. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 311.025(c), Government Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(c) In determining whether amendments are irreconcilable, | ||
text that is reenacted because of the requirement of Article III, | ||
Section 36, of the Texas Constitution is not considered to be | ||
irreconcilable with additions or omissions in the same text made by | ||
another amendment. Unless clearly indicated to the contrary, an | ||
amendment that reenacts text in compliance with that constitutional | ||
requirement does not mean [ |
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reenacted text prevails [ |
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made by another amendment, regardless of the relative dates of | ||
enactment. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 311.026(b), Government Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
(b) If the conflict between the general provision and the | ||
special or local provision is irreconcilable, the special or local | ||
provision prevails as an exception to the general provision, unless | ||
the general provision is the later enactment and clearly and | ||
unambiguously supersedes the special or local provision [ |
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SECTION 5. Section 311.028, Government Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 311.028. UNIFORM CONSTRUCTION OF UNIFORM ACTS. A | ||
uniform act included in a code shall be construed, when possible, | ||
[ |
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states that enact it. | ||
SECTION 6. Subchapter C, Chapter 311, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 311.0311 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 311.0311. SEVERABILITY AND SAVING CONSTRUCTIONS. (a) | ||
Unless a statute contains a provision expressly providing for | ||
nonseverability, every provision, section, subsection, sentence, | ||
clause, phrase, and word of the statute, including every discrete | ||
application of the provision, section, subsection, sentence, | ||
clause, phrase, or word to any person, group of persons, or | ||
circumstance, is severable. | ||
(b) If any application of any statutory provision, section, | ||
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word to any person, group | ||
of persons, or circumstance is determined by a court to be invalid, | ||
preempted, or unconstitutional, regardless of the reason, all | ||
remaining applications of that statutory provision, section, | ||
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word to any other person, | ||
group of persons, or circumstance shall be severed and preserved | ||
and remain in effect. | ||
(c) It is the intent of the legislature that every valid, | ||
non-preempted, and constitutional application of its statutory | ||
enactments be allowed to stand alone and remain enforceable. | ||
(d) A court may not decline to enforce the severability | ||
requirements of this section on the grounds that the severance | ||
would rewrite the statute or involve the court in legislative or | ||
lawmaking activity. A court that declines to enforce, or that | ||
enjoins a state official from enforcing, wholly or partly, a | ||
statute is not considered to be rewriting a statute or engaging in | ||
legislative or lawmaking activity because the statute continues to | ||
contain the same words as before the court's decision. A judicial | ||
injunction or declaration of unconstitutionality: | ||
(1) is only an edict prohibiting enforcement of the | ||
disputed statute against the parties to that lawsuit and may | ||
subsequently be vacated by a higher court based on a different | ||
understanding of the law; | ||
(2) is not a formal amendment of the language in a | ||
statute; and | ||
(3) does not rewrite the statute any more than a | ||
decision by the executive not to enforce a duly enacted statute in a | ||
limited and defined set of circumstances. | ||
(e) If a court, in violation of this section, declares or | ||
finds any statutory provision, section, subsection, sentence, | ||
clause, phrase, or word to be facially or totally invalid, | ||
preempted, or unconstitutional, when there are discrete | ||
applications of that statutory provision, section, subsection, | ||
sentence, clause, phrase, or word that could be enforced against a | ||
person, group of persons, or circumstance without violating federal | ||
law or the federal or state constitutions, then that statutory | ||
provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word | ||
shall be interpreted, as a matter of state law, as if the | ||
legislature had explicitly limited its application to the person, | ||
group of persons, or circumstance for which its application will | ||
not violate federal law or the federal or state constitutions, and | ||
every court shall adopt and apply this saving construction until | ||
the court ruling declaring the statutory provision, section, | ||
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word facially or totally | ||
invalid, preempted, or unconstitutional is vacated or overturned. | ||
SECTION 7. Section 311.034, Government Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 311.034. WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY; JURISDICTIONAL | ||
REQUIREMENTS. In order to preserve the legislature's interest in | ||
managing state fiscal matters through the appropriations process, a | ||
statute shall not be construed as a waiver of sovereign immunity | ||
unless the waiver is effected by clear and unambiguous language. In | ||
a statute, the use of "person," as defined by Section 311.005 to | ||
include governmental entities, does not [ |
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statute indicates no other reasonable construction. Statutory | ||
prerequisites to a suit, including the provision of notice, are | ||
jurisdictional requirements in all suits against a governmental | ||
entity. | ||
SECTION 8. Subchapter C, Chapter 311, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 311.037 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 311.037. GRAMMATICAL OR SCRIVENER'S ERROR. A | ||
grammatical or scrivener's error does not vitiate a law. A court | ||
construing a statute that contains a grammatical or scrivener's | ||
error that would be apparent to an ordinary reader of the English | ||
language may interpret the statute consistent with the | ||
understanding of the statute by an ordinary reader of the English | ||
language. | ||
SECTION 9. Subchapter A, Chapter 312, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Sections 312.0051, 312.0052, 312.0081, and | ||
312.0082 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 312.0051. INTENTIONALISM PROHIBITED. When | ||
interpreting a statute, a court: | ||
(1) may not inquire into what members of the | ||
legislature intended to accomplish by enacting the statute; and | ||
(2) shall enforce the statutory text as written and in | ||
accordance with the meaning that the words of the statute would have | ||
to an ordinary speaker of the English language. | ||
Sec. 312.0052. USE OF LEGISLATURE HISTORY PROHIBITED. When | ||
interpreting a statute, a court may not consider, consult, cite, | ||
rely on, or give any weight to: | ||
(1) any statement from an individual legislator, | ||
including a statement by the author or sponsor of the bill that | ||
enacted the statute or a statement made during a committee hearing | ||
or debate of the bill on the floor of a house of the legislature; | ||
(2) a committee report; or | ||
(3) a statement of a presiding officer or the governor | ||
made on the signing of the bill. | ||
Sec. 312.0081. GRAMMATICAL OR SCRIVENER'S ERROR. A | ||
grammatical or scrivener's error does not vitiate a law. A court | ||
construing a statute that contains a grammatical or scrivener's | ||
error that would be apparent to an ordinary reader of the English | ||
language may interpret the statute consistent with the | ||
understanding of the statute by an ordinary reader of the English | ||
language. | ||
Sec. 312.0082. SEVERABILITY AND SAVING CONSTRUCTIONS. (a) | ||
Unless a statute contains a provision expressly providing for | ||
nonseverability, every provision, section, subsection, sentence, | ||
clause, phrase, and word of the statute, including every discrete | ||
application of the provision, section, subsection, sentence, | ||
clause, phrase, or word to any person, group of persons, or | ||
circumstance, is severable. | ||
(b) If any application of any statutory provision, section, | ||
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word to any person, group | ||
of persons, or circumstance is determined by a court to be invalid, | ||
preempted, or unconstitutional, regardless of the reason, all | ||
remaining applications of that statutory provision, section, | ||
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word to any other person, | ||
group of persons, or circumstance shall be severed and preserved | ||
and remain in effect. | ||
(c) It is the intent of the legislature that every valid, | ||
non-preempted, and constitutional application of its statutory | ||
enactments be allowed to stand alone and remain enforceable. | ||
(d) A court may not decline to enforce the severability | ||
requirements of this section on the grounds that the severance | ||
would rewrite the statute or involve the court in legislative or | ||
lawmaking activity. A court that declines to enforce, or that | ||
enjoins a state official from enforcing, wholly or partly, a | ||
statute is not considered to be rewriting a statute or engaging in | ||
legislative or lawmaking activity because the statute continues to | ||
contain the same words as before the court's decision. A judicial | ||
injunction or declaration of unconstitutionality: | ||
(1) is only an edict prohibiting enforcement of the | ||
disputed statute against the parties to that lawsuit and may | ||
subsequently be vacated by a higher court based on a different | ||
understanding of the law; | ||
(2) is not a formal amendment of the language in a | ||
statute; and | ||
(3) does not rewrite the statute any more than a | ||
decision by the executive not to enforce a duly enacted statute in a | ||
limited and defined set of circumstances. | ||
(e) If a court, in violation of this section, declares or | ||
finds any statutory provision, section, subsection, sentence, | ||
clause, phrase, or word to be facially or totally invalid, | ||
preempted, or unconstitutional, when there are discrete | ||
applications of that statutory provision, section, subsection, | ||
sentence, clause, phrase, or word that could be enforced against a | ||
person, group of persons, or circumstance without violating federal | ||
law or the federal or state constitutions, then that statutory | ||
provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word | ||
shall be interpreted, as a matter of state law, as if the | ||
legislature had explicitly limited its application to the person, | ||
group of persons, or circumstance for which its application will | ||
not violate federal law or the federal or state constitutions, and | ||
every court shall adopt and apply this saving construction until | ||
the court ruling declaring the statutory provision, section, | ||
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word facially or totally | ||
invalid, preempted, or unconstitutional is vacated or overturned. | ||
SECTION 10. Sections 311.021, 311.023, 311.032, 312.005, | ||
312.006, 312.012, and 312.013, Government Code, are repealed. | ||
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |