HBA-JLV H.B. 2813 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2813
By: Wolens
State Affairs
3/21/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The Texas Legislative Council is required by law (Section 323.007,
Government Code) to carry out a complete nonsubstantive revision of the
Texas statutes.  The process involves reclassifying and rearranging the
statutes in a more logical order, employing a numbering system and format
that will accommodate future expansion of the law, eliminating repealed,
invalid, duplicative, and other ineffective provisions, and improving the
draftsmanship of the law, if practicable--all toward promoting the stated
purpose of making the statutes "more accessible, understandable, and
usable" without altering the sense, meaning, or effect of the law. 

In 1965 the council adopted a long-range plan of compiling the law into 26
codes arranged by general topics.  Although some reorganization has
occurred since the original proposal, the number of projected codes remains
at 26. 

During the 76th legislative session, the legislature enacted the
Occupations Code, which was a nonsubstantive codification of  the Texas
statutes applicable to the licensing and regulation of health professions
and certain other professions and business practices.  The bill amends the
Occupations Code to codify statutes relating to engineering, architecture,
land surveying, real property and housing, environmental and  industrial
trades, motor vehicles and transportation, and other occupations.  The bill
also codifies the statutes that govern the various state agencies and other
entities that regulate the specific professions and occupations covered by
the bill.  The bill comprises the remainder of the Occupations Code.
Specifically, the bill amends the Occupations Code by adding the following
titles: 

 Title 6,  Regulation of Engineering, Architecture, Land Surveying, and
Related Practices; 
Title 7,  Practices and Professions Related to Real Property and Housing;
Title 8,  Regulation of Environmental and Industrial Trades;
Title 12, Practices and Trades Related to Water, Health, and Safety;
Title 14, Regulation of Motor Vehicles and Transportation; and
Title 15, Occupations Related to Employment.

Each of the titles is divided into subtitles, chapters, subchapters, and
sections.  Sections are numbered decimally, and the number to the left of
the decimal point is the same as the chapter number.  Gaps in chapter and
section numbering are for future expansion. 

The council legal staff has taken meticulous care to ensure that no
substantive change has been made in the law and to preserve any ambiguity
or interpretation that may exist in current law. 

The staff has developed an extensive mailing list, and drafts of the
proposed titles have been widely distributed for review and comment to
interested individuals, organizations, businesses, industry
representatives, and governmental agencies.  The staff has studied the
comments and suggestions of persons reviewing the titles and has taken
action to satisfy any concerns expressed. 

The proposed amendment of the Occupations Code is a nonsubstantive revision
of Texas law.  The substance of the law has not been altered.  The sole
purpose of the proposed amendment is to compile the  relevant law, arrange
it in a logical fashion, and rewrite it without altering its meaning or
legal effect.  If a particular source statute is ambiguous and the
ambiguity cannot be resolved without a potential substantive effect, the
ambiguity is preserved. 


RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

The bill proposes Titles 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, and 15, Occupations Code, a
nonsubstantive revision of statutes relating to the regulation of
engineering, architecture, land surveying, and related practices, practices
and professions related to real property and housing, regulation of
environmental and industrial trades, practices and trades related to water,
health, and safety, regulation of motor vehicles and transportation, and
occupations related to employment.  The bill also includes conforming
amendments to Chapter 23, Natural Resources Code, and Chapters 501 and 503,
Transportation Code, necessary to continue without substantive change
provisions of law not codified as part of Titles 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, and 15,
Occupations Code, and to ensure that other substantive changes are not
made.  In addition, the bill repeals the laws that are revised in the bill
as well as laws that have expired or that have been impliedly repealed.
Finally, the bill includes a statement of the legislative intent to
recodify only. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

The bill is effective June 1, 2003, in order to provide affected parties a
complete legislative cycle to review more closely what the legislature has
enacted.