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House Bill 3579 |
House Author: Bumgarner |
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Effective: 9-1-23 |
Senate Sponsor: King |
House Bill 3579 amends the Occupations Code to authorize the executive director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to issue an emergency order halting the operation of a massage establishment if TDLR learns that a law enforcement agency is investigating the massage establishment for an offense involving human trafficking or if TDLR has reasonable cause to believe that such an offense is being committed at the massage establishment.
House Bill 3579 authorizes a political subdivision to adopt a regulation that is more restrictive for massage establishments than for other health care establishments with respect to the location, ownership, hours of operation, or operation of a massage establishment where an offense involving prostitution, organized crime, or human trafficking was committed, subject to certain conditions, or that is operating at a location where another massage establishment previously operated and that other massage establishment or its owner was sanctioned for violating state law governing massage therapy. The bill establishes a process by which the owner or operator of a massage establishment operating at the location of a previously sanctioned massage establishment may request an exemption from such a regulation adopted by the applicable political subdivision.