Enrolled Bill Summary

Senate Bill 616	Senate Author:  Birdwell et al.
Effective:  See Below	House Sponsor:  Paddie

            Senate Bill 616 amends the Government Code, Occupations Code, Transportation Code, Health and Safety Code, and Code of Criminal Procedure to continue the Department of Public Safety (DPS) until September 1, 2031. Among other provisions, including certain across‑the‑board sunset provisions, the bill does the following:

·         provides for the conditional transfer of the driver's license program from DPS to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles if a certain third‑party analysis of the management and operating structure of the driver's license program is not completed;

·         extends the term of a non-commercial driver's license from six years to eight years and the term of a commercial driver's license from five years to eight years and changes the fees associated with driver's license and motorcycle license renewal;

·         transfers the motorcycle and ATV safety training program from DPS to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) and provides for the disposal of motorcycles and other equipment related to the training program;

·         requires DPS to submit an annual report to the legislature on border crime and certain other criminal activity;

·         reclassifies the Texas Private Security Board as the Texas Private Security Advisory Committee and establishes certain licensing requirements for individuals who provide private security services;

·         deregulates certain licenses and registrations for individuals and entities that do not directly provide private security services and eliminates certain regulations on peyote distributers and chemical and laboratory apparatus sales and transfers; and

·         sets out provisions standardizing the administration of DPS regulatory programs by providing DPS a full range of enforcement sanctions and authorizing flexible license renewal requirements.

The bill takes effect on September 1, 2019, except that provisions providing for the conditional transfer of the driver's license program and the provisions requiring disposal of motorcycles and certain other equipment take effect June 10, 2019, and the provisions providing for the transfer of the motorcycle and ATV safety training program to TDLR take effect September 1, 2020.