BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 963

By: Jetton

Appropriations

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Provisions for domestic violence survivors to receive fee waivers for the issuance of personal identification certificates were not included in a prior fee exemption bill. Personal identification certificates include drivers licenses, photo IDs, birth certificates, passports, and more. Having to pay a fee for such a certificate makes achieving independence more difficult for domestic violence survivors in particular. H.B. 963 seeks to address this issue by waiving the fee for such certificates for certain victims of domestic violence. This legislation is meant to support survivors of domestic violence and help them to regain their independence.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 963 amends the Transportation Code to include the fee waiver for the issuance of a personal identification certificate to a victim of dating violence, a victim of family violence, or the child of such a victim among the waivers the combined expenditures of which in a previous fiscal year must be more than three times the amount of the balance of the identification fee exemption account to authorize the Department of Public Safety to request a transfer of money from that account to the Texas Workforce Commission in an amount sufficient to cover the cost of implementing the youth driver education funding program.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.