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Senate Bill 2038 |
Senate Author: Duncan |
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Effective: Vetoed |
House Sponsor: Hartnett |
Senate Bill 2038 amends the Government Code to require the Supreme Court of Texas, a court, executive branch, or other entity interpreting and applying a codified or revised statute to give the statute the same effect and meaning that was or would have been given to the statute before its codification or revision and requires that any omission or change in the codified or revised statute be considered unintended and be given no effect if the court, executive branch, or other entity finds no direct express evidence of legislative intent to change the sense, meaning, or effect of the statute. The bill applies its provisions to the interpretation or application by a court, executive branch agency, or other entity of a statute that was enacted by the legislature for the purpose of codifying or revising without substantive change statutes that individually relate to different subjects and that was prepared for the legislature's consideration by the Texas Legislative Council under the authority of the statutory revision program. The bill establishes that the codification or revision of a statute to which its provisions apply does not affect the meaning or effect of the statute.
Reason Given for Veto: 'The plain words of a statute are the starting point for interpreting the law. Senate Bill No. 2038 would eliminate this fundamental principle. Citizens, judges and lawyers may debate the proper interpretation and application of those words but they may not debate what those words are. Senate Bill No. 2038 would abandon that basic and necessary premise. The reliability of the language found in the Texas codes would be subject to second guessing. Judges would no longer be able to apply the law simply by looking at its plain text. Senate Bill No. 2038 would likely result in an increase in litigation as lawyers would challenge the plain meaning of Texas statutes and compel courts to look to repealed codes and former session laws to determine what is Texas law.
'The codification and revision process was established to make Texas law more accessible. Senate Bill No. 2038 would undermine the very purpose of the codification process by forcing both practitioners and ordinary citizens to locate and research old versions of our laws in order to determine if the current Texas codes really mean what they say.
'Similar legislation, House Bill No. 2809, was vetoed in 2001. The concerns that existed then still exist today. Determining our state's laws should not be a burdensome process; Texans should be able to determine what our law says by simply reading the codes.'