BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3224

By: Guillen

Transportation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current law, an individual who fails to pay their motor vehicle liability insurance is subject to having both their driver's license and vehicle registration revoked. There are concerns that there can be more than one name on the vehicle registration, and if a registration is revoked because one registered driver fails to pay their liability insurance, other responsible drivers who are not responsible for the failure to pay are also subject to the consequences. H.B. 3224 seeks to protect financially responsible individuals from becoming collateral damage in a situation that is out of their control by removing the mandatory vehicle registration suspension for violating the motor vehicle liability insurance requirement in certain circumstances.

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. 3224 amends the Transportation Code to remove the requirement for the Department of Public Safety to suspend the vehicle registrations of a person on the subsequent reported conviction of an offense for operating a motor vehicle in violation of the motor vehicle liability insurance requirement.

H.B. 3224 applies only to a vehicle registration suspended for an offense committed on or after the bill's effective date. The bill provides for the continuation of the law in effect before the bill's effective date for purposes of an offense, or any element thereof, that occurred before that date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.