HBA-CMT C.S.H.B. 1712 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1712 By: Maxey Licensing & Administrative Procedures 4/25/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In the interest of providing the health care consumer with helpful information concerning their physicians, legislation passed in the 76th session instructed the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners to provide profiles of their licensees for the public. Just as choosing a physician is an important decision, choosing an attorney that you trust to fight for your rights or argue for your freedom is an important decision. Currently, the information consumers need in order to make informed decisions about their attorney is not readily available. C.S.H.B. 1712 requires the State Bar of Texas to compile a list of attorney profiles that would be made available to the public. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the State Bar of Texas in SECTION 1 (Section 81.115, Government Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1712 amends the Government Code to require the State Bar of Texas (state bar) to create a profile of each attorney licensed by the state bar in a format that permits the information to be available online and sets forth provisions for the information the profile must contain. Information to be included in a profile that is not maintained by the state bar in the ordinary course of the state bar's duties is required to be requested from an attorney annually. The bill sets forth provisions regarding such information and the instructions the state bar is required to provide when requesting information from the attorney. The bill provides that the state bar is not required to disclose confidential information. The bill requires the state bar to annually provide each attorney licensed by the state bar a copy of the attorney's profile, or provide an individual attorney with a copy of the attorney's profile on request. The state bar is required to provide the attorney one month from the date a copy of the attorney's profile is provided to the attorney to correct factual errors in the attorney's profile, and requires the state bar to annually update the information contained in the attorney's profile. The bill authorizes the state bar to adopt rules relating to the type and content of additional information to be included in an attorney's profile, and requires the state bar to adopt rules as necessary to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill authorizes the state bar to collect an annual fee of not more than $10 from each member of the state bar for the purpose of administering the provisions of the bill. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1712 differs from the original bill by modifying the information that the profile of each attorney must contain. The substitute provides that the profile must contain specified information if the attorney provides such information to the State Bar of Texas (state bar). The substitute requires the state bar to inform an attorney that compliance with a request for information is voluntary. The substitute adds the requirement that the state bar annually provide each licensed attorney a copy of the attorney's profile rather than requiring the state bar to provide a copy of the profile on an attorney's request. The substitute adds the authorization that the state bar collect an annual fee to administer the provision's of this bill not to exceed $10 from each member of the state bar.