73R8183 PB-F
By Carona H.B. No. 588
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 588:
By Shields C.S.H.B. No. 588
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the provision by insurance companies of certain
1-3 insurance information to the Department of Public Safety and to the
1-4 use of that information by the department; providing a criminal
1-5 penalty.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Section 1B, Texas Motor Vehicle
1-8 Safety-Responsibility Act (Article 6701h, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-9 Statutes), is amended by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as
1-10 follows:
1-11 (d) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (b) of this section
1-12 and except as otherwise provided by Subsection (e) of this section,
1-13 effective January 1, 1994, an operator of a motor vehicle is not
1-14 required to present a document listed in Subsection (a) of this
1-15 section on the request of a peace officer or a person involved in
1-16 an accident with the operator if the operator has an insurance
1-17 policy recorded in the database during the term of the pilot
1-18 program created under Section 19A of this Act. Except as provided
1-19 by Subsection (e) of this section, evidence of the financial
1-20 responsibility of the operator of a motor vehicle during the term
1-21 of the pilot program shall be determined only by analysis of the
1-22 information provided to the department under Section 19A of this
1-23 Act by the operator's insurance company or the designated agent of
1-24 that company.
2-1 (e) Each insurance company or its designated agent shall
2-2 provide a new policyholder with a written receipt on issuance of
2-3 the new policy. An operator of the motor vehicle covered by that
2-4 policy, before the 31st day after the date of issuance of that
2-5 policy, shall present the receipt or a document listed under
2-6 Subsection (a) of this section on the request of a peace officer or
2-7 a person involved in an accident with the operator.
2-8 SECTION 2. The Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act
2-9 (Article 6701h, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding
2-10 Sections 19A and 19B to read as follows:
2-11 Sec. 19A. COMPUTER DATABASE PILOT PROGRAM; FUNDING. (a)
2-12 The pilot program for the use of a motor vehicle insurance database
2-13 is created as provided by this section. When an insurance company
2-14 authorized to write motor vehicle liability insurance in this state
2-15 or its designated agent issues a motor vehicle liability insurance
2-16 policy to a person who is required to maintain insurance under
2-17 Section 1A of this Act and who is the holder of a Texas driver's
2-18 license, or cancels such a policy, the insurance company or its
2-19 designated agent shall furnish to the Department the following
2-20 information:
2-21 (1) the insurance policy number;
2-22 (2) the effective date of the policy; and
2-23 (3) the vehicle identification number of each vehicle
2-24 covered by the policy.
2-25 (b) Each insurance company or its designated agent shall
2-26 provide information required under this section to the Department
2-27 through an electronic system in the format most compatible with
3-1 insurance industry standards at least monthly, or at more frequent
3-2 intervals as prescribed by the Department. Information provided by
3-3 an insurance company under this section remains the property of the
3-4 insurance company.
3-5 (c) From the information provided by insurance companies or
3-6 their designated agents under this section, the Department, or a
3-7 public or private agent designated by the Department, shall develop
3-8 and maintain a computer database to be used in monitoring
3-9 compliance with this Act. Information in the database is not
3-10 public information. The Department shall develop procedures to
3-11 enable law enforcement officers on patrol, and other state or local
3-12 governmental entities that enforce this Act, to have access to the
3-13 information in the computer database. The Department shall
3-14 periodically update the database to identify new policies and to
3-15 determine whether prior policies are still in effect.
3-16 (d) Each insurance company or designated agent subject to
3-17 this section shall collect from the policyholder of a motor vehicle
3-18 insurance liability policy subject to this section a fee of 10
3-19 cents per month for the term of the policy payable in advance of
3-20 the term of the policy. The insurance company or designated agent
3-21 shall remit 50 percent of the fee to the comptroller in the form
3-22 and manner prescribed by the comptroller for deposit in the general
3-23 revenue fund, to be credited to a special account to be used only
3-24 to cover the costs of administration of this section. The
3-25 insurance company or designated agent shall retain the remaining 50
3-26 percent of the fee.
3-27 (e) If a person charged with an offense presents to the
4-1 court, by mail or by an electronic transfer medium approved by the
4-2 court, evidence that the charge is based on erroneous information
4-3 maintained in or information omitted from the Department's computer
4-4 database, the court shall dismiss the charge and shall notify the
4-5 person charged of the dismissal in writing not later than the fifth
4-6 day after the date on which the charge is dismissed.
4-7 (f) An officer or employee of an insurance company or its
4-8 designated agent, an officer or employee of the Department, a
4-9 designated agent of the Department, or other state or local
4-10 governmental official is not liable in a civil action for an act
4-11 performed in good faith in providing information in compliance with
4-12 this Act.
4-13 (g) This section and Sections 1B(d) and (e) expire December
4-14 31, 1998.
4-15 Sec. 19B. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person who knowingly
4-16 releases information maintained by the Department in a computer
4-17 database created under Section 19A of this Act in violation of that
4-18 section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a
4-19 Class A misdemeanor.
4-20 (b) This section expires December 31, 1998.
4-21 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
4-22 applies only to a policy of motor vehicle liability insurance that
4-23 is delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January
4-24 1, 1994. A policy that is delivered, issued for delivery, or
4-25 renewed before January 1, 1994, is governed by the law as it
4-26 existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that
4-27 law is continued in effect for that purpose.
5-1 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.