Bill Text: TX HB862 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the regulation of migrant labor housing facilities; authorizing an increase in the amount of a fee; changing the amount of a civil penalty.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-12 - Placed on General State Calendar [HB862 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB862-Introduced.html

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87R3733 JAM-F
By: Romero, Jr. H.B. No. 862

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of migrant labor housing facilities;
authorizing an increase in the amount of a fee; changing the amount
of a civil penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2306.922, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2306.922. LICENSE REQUIRED. A person may not:
(1) establish, maintain, or operate a migrant labor
housing facility without obtaining a license for the facility from
the department; or
(2) procure, make arrangements for, or otherwise
provide housing for migrant agricultural workers without ensuring
that the applicable migrant labor housing facility is licensed
under this subchapter.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 2306.923, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.923. LICENSE APPLICATION; FEE [APPLICATION
INSPECTION].
SECTION 3. Section 2306.923, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to
read as follows:
(d) An applicant who seeks to substitute an inspection
conducted by the United States Department of Labor or the Texas
Workforce Commission for a pre-occupation inspection conducted by
the department under Section 2306.924 must include with the
application:
(1) individualized affirmations regarding the
facility's compliance with each state standard established by this
subchapter; and
(2) electronically submitted digital images of the
facility that hold metadata verifying when and where the images
were taken.
(e) The department shall prescribe the form and manner of an
application made under this section.
(f) The application must be accompanied by a reasonable
[the] license fee established by the board by rule in an amount
sufficient to cover the costs of administering this subchapter,
including costs associated with conducting inspections and
reinspections under this subchapter.
(g) A fee collected under this section shall be deposited to
the credit of the general revenue fund and may be appropriated to
the department for the administration of this subchapter.
SECTION 4. The heading to Section 2306.924, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.924. PRE-OCCUPATION INSPECTION.
SECTION 5. Section 2306.925(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) If a migrant labor housing facility for which a license
application is made does not meet the reasonable minimum standards
of construction, sanitation, equipment, and operation required by
rules adopted under this subchapter, the department at the time of
inspection shall give the license applicant in writing the reasons
that the facility does not meet those standards. The applicant may
remedy the deficiency and request the department to reinspect the
facility not later than the 10th [60th] day after the date on which
the reasons are given.
SECTION 6. Section 2306.926(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The license expires on the first anniversary of the date
of issuance. Not later than the 60th day before the date a license
is scheduled to expire, the department shall give notice of the
expiration to the license holder.
SECTION 7. Subchapter LL, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2306.9261 to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.9261. THIRD-PARTY APPEAL OF LICENSE
DETERMINATION. The department by rule shall adopt procedures
through which third parties, including migrant agricultural
workers and advocacy groups, may appeal the issuance or denial of a
license or the imposition of a condition on a license.
SECTION 8. Subchapter LL, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by amending Sections 2306.927, 2306.928, and 2306.929 and
adding Section 2306.9281 to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.927. [LICENSE] POSTING OF LICENSE AND COMPLAINT
INFORMATION. A person who holds a license issued under this
subchapter shall post [the license] in the licensed migrant labor
housing facility at all times during the maintenance or operation
of the facility a copy of:
(1) the license; and
(2) information describing in English and Spanish the
complaint procedures provided by Section 2306.929.
Sec. 2306.928. INSPECTION OF FACILITIES. (a) Before
conducting an inspection of a migrant labor housing facility under
this section, an authorized representative of the department must
give or make a reasonable attempt to give notice to the persons who:
(1) are the providers of the facility, based on
evidence available to the department; and
(2) if applicable, are alleged to be the providers of
the facility in any complaint filed under this chapter.
(b) An authorized representative of the department, after
giving or making a reasonable attempt to give notice under
Subsection (a):
(1) shall inspect the facility:
(A) on receipt of a complaint under Section
2306.929, including a report of an unlicensed migrant labor housing
facility; and
(B) at least once during the probable period of
use of the facility as stated under Section 2306.923(c)(3); and
(2) [to the operator of a migrant labor housing
facility,] may otherwise enter and inspect the facility during
reasonable hours and investigate conditions, practices, or other
matters as necessary or appropriate to determine whether a person
has violated this subchapter or a rule adopted under this
subchapter.
(c) In addition to the inspections required under
Subsection (b)(1), the department by rule shall establish an annual
quota of proactive inspections of suspected unlicensed or
noncompliant migrant labor housing facilities. The quota
established under this subsection may not be less than 50 percent of
the number of migrant labor housing facilities licensed under this
subchapter in the preceding state fiscal year.
(d) During an inspection conducted under Subsection (b)(1),
the inspector shall:
(1) conduct interviews with not less than 10 percent
of the occupants of the facility, including any person who
submitted a complaint requiring the inspection under Subsection
(b)(1)(A), if known;
(2) make written notes regarding the inspection at the
time of the inspection or immediately after the inspection; and
(3) take photographs of any violations.
(e) An interview under Subsection (d)(1) must be conducted:
(1) after working hours or on rest days, to the extent
possible; and
(2) out of the presence of any person who owns or
establishes or who maintains, operates, or otherwise provides the
migrant labor housing facility or any person who employs the
migrant agricultural workers occupying the facility.
Sec. 2306.9281. INSPECTION REPORT. (a) After an
inspection, the inspector shall submit to the department a report
containing:
(1) a narrative regarding the alleged violation and
the methods used to investigate the alleged violation;
(2) a determination of whether the alleged violation,
or any other violation, exists; and
(3) evidence supporting the determination made under
Subdivision (2), including any photographs taken under Section
2306.928(d)(3).
(b) A report under Subsection (a) must be made available to
the public on the department's Internet website. The department
shall redact each migrant agricultural worker's name and other
personal information contained in a report made available under
this subsection.
(c) The department by rule shall establish and require the
use of a standardized inspection report form for conducting
inspections under Section 2306.928.
Sec. 2306.929. COMPLAINTS [FEE]. (a) The department by
rule shall:
(1) establish procedures for the submission,
investigation, and resolution of complaints of alleged violations
of this subchapter, including a procedure through which other state
agencies that receive a complaint under Subsection (b)(2) can
report the complaint to the department; and
(2) adopt a standardized complaint form.
(b) The procedures established under Subsection (a)(1) must
allow the submission of complaints:
(1) anonymously or by a third party; and
(2) through the department's Internet website, in
person at any nonprofit organization that assists migrant
agricultural workers in finding employment or at any state agency,
by telephone, or in writing.
(c) The form adopted under Subsection (a)(2) must allow for
the collection of information regarding:
(1) the name, address, and contact information of:
(A) the employer;
(B) the farm labor contractor; and
(C) the migrant labor housing facility provider;
(2) the address, including a unit number, and location
of the facility and directions to the facility;
(3) the number of migrant agricultural workers:
(A) currently occupying the facility; and
(B) occupying the facility during the peak period
of occupancy;
(4) the dates the facility has been occupied and the
approximate length of the season for which the facility will be
occupied;
(5) the type of work performed by the workers
occupying the facility;
(6) whether the postings required under Section
2306.927 are displayed;
(7) complaints about the facility; and
(8) any other information the department considers
necessary.
(d) The department shall consider a report regarding an
unlicensed migrant labor housing facility to be a complaint under
this section.
(e) The department shall make available to a person
submitting a complaint, if the identity of that person is known,
information regarding other housing and transportation resources
available to the person [The board shall set the license fee in an
amount not to exceed $250].
SECTION 9. Subchapter LL, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2306.9305 to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.9305. DUTY TO PROVIDE HOUSING ON SUSPENSION OR
REVOCATION OF LICENSE. (a) The department by rule shall establish
procedures requiring the owner or provider of a migrant labor
housing facility, on suspension or revocation of a license as
provided by Section 2306.930, to relocate or provide for the
relocation of the occupants of the facility to another facility
that:
(1) meets the occupancy standards of this subchapter;
and
(2) is located in the same area as the vacated
facility.
(b) An owner or provider required to relocate an occupant
under Subsection (a) shall pay any rental cost of the relocation
facility that exceeds the rent of the vacated facility.
SECTION 10. The heading to Section 2306.931, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.931. ENFORCEMENT; ADOPTION OF RULES REGARDING
HEALTH AND SAFETY AND LICENSING.
SECTION 11. Section 2306.931(e), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) The board by rule shall adopt minimum standards for
issuing, revoking, or suspending a license issued under this
subchapter, including rules that provide for the immediate
suspension or revocation of a license for certain violations that
constitute threats to the health and safety of persons living in
migrant labor housing facilities.
SECTION 12. Subchapter LL, Chapter 2306, Government Code,
is amended by amending Section 2306.933 and adding Sections
2306.934, 2306.935, and 2306.936 to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.933. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) A person who violates
this subchapter or a rule adopted under this subchapter is subject
to a civil penalty of not less than $50 for each person occupying
the migrant labor housing facility in violation of this subchapter
[$200] for each day that the violation occurs.
(b) An [The county attorney for the county in which the
violation occurred, or the attorney general, at the request of the
department, shall bring an] action [in the name of the state] to
collect a [the] penalty under this section may be brought by:
(1) the department through the contested case hearing
process described by Section 2306.930(b);
(2) the county attorney for the county in which the
violation occurred, or the attorney general, at the request of the
department; or
(3) a migrant agricultural worker who, at the time of
the violation, lived in the migrant labor housing facility that is
the subject of the violation.
(c) The department by rule shall adopt a penalty schedule
that increases the amount of the penalty assessed against a person
who repeatedly violates this subchapter or rules adopted under this
subchapter.
(d) A penalty collected under Subsection (b)(1) or (2) shall
be deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund and may be
appropriated only to the department for the enforcement of this
subchapter.
Sec. 2306.934. ATTORNEY'S FEES. A person against whom a
civil penalty is assessed under Section 2306.933 is liable for
paying the costs and attorney's fees of the person who brought the
action under Section 2306.933(b).
Sec. 2306.935. RETALIATION PROHIBITED. A person who owns,
establishes, maintains, operates, procures, makes arrangements
for, or otherwise provides a migrant labor housing facility, a
person who employs a migrant agricultural worker who occupies a
migrant labor housing facility, or a farm labor contractor may not
retaliate against a person for filing a complaint or providing
information in good faith relating to a possible violation of this
subchapter.
Sec. 2306.936. OUTREACH AND EDUCATION. (a) The department
shall provide:
(1) to migrant agricultural workers in different
regions of the state, educational materials or programs that are
presented in English, Spanish, and other languages as appropriate
and that inform the workers of their rights and remedies under this
subchapter; and
(2) to persons who own, establish, maintain, operate,
procure, make arrangements for, or otherwise provide migrant labor
housing facilities, educational materials or programs that are
presented in English, Spanish, and other languages as appropriate
and that inform the persons of their obligations under this
subchapter.
(b) To better provide the services described by Subsection
(a), the department shall:
(1) ensure that, in each region of the state where
migrant labor housing facilities are most common, there are persons
capable of providing the information described by Subsection (a) in
English, Spanish, and other languages as appropriate; and
(2) conduct research, including by surveying migrant
agricultural workers, concerning:
(A) what types of migrant labor housing
facilities are most common in different regions of the state; and
(B) what regions of the state most need
additional or improved migrant labor housing facilities.
SECTION 13. Not later than March 1, 2022, the Texas
Department of Housing and Community Affairs shall adopt the rules
necessary to implement Subchapter LL, Chapter 2306, Government
Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 14. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, the change in law made by this Act applies only to an
administrative or regulatory action taken on or after the effective
date of this Act. An administrative or regulatory action taken
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
applicable to the administrative or regulatory action immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
(b) The change in law made by this Act in amending Section
2306.933, Government Code, and adding Section 2306.934, Government
Code, applies only to a violation that occurs on or after the
effective date of this Act. A violation occurs before the effective
date of this Act if any element of the violation occurs before that
date. A violation that occurs before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law in effect on the date the violation occurred,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.