By:  Carriker                                         S.B. No. 1275
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the regulation of auctioneers.
    1-2        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-3        SECTION 1.  Subsection (d), Section 3, Chapter 320, Acts of
    1-4  the 64th Legislature, 1975 (Article 8700, Vernon's Texas Civil
    1-5  Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
    1-6        (d)  Each person applying for a license must apply to the
    1-7  commissioner on a form provided by the commissioner that
    1-8  establishes the applicant's eligibility for the license.  The
    1-9  application must be accompanied by any required recovery fund fee
   1-10  <the required bond>, the required license fee, and either the
   1-11  limited sales tax permit number issued by the comptroller of public
   1-12  accounts or proof of exemption from the limited sales tax permit
   1-13  requirement.
   1-14        SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 5A, Chapter 320, Acts of
   1-15  the 64th Legislature, 1975 (Article 8700, Vernon's Texas Civil
   1-16  Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
   1-17        (c)  If, as of December 31 of any year, the balance remaining
   1-18  in the auctioneer education and recovery fund is less than
   1-19  $300,000, each licensee shall pay at the next license renewal, in
   1-20  addition to the renewal fee, the lesser <greater> of $50, or a pro
   1-21  rata share of the amount necessary to bring the fund to $300,000.
   1-22        SECTION 3.  Subsections (a) and (f), Section 7, Chapter 320,
   1-23  Acts of the 64th Legislature, 1975 (Article 8700, Vernon's Texas
    2-1  Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
    2-2        (a)  The commissioner may deny, suspend, or revoke the
    2-3  license of any auctioneer for any of the following causes:
    2-4              (1)  for obtaining a license through false or
    2-5  fraudulent representation;
    2-6              (2)  for making any substantial misrepresentation in an
    2-7  application for an auctioneer's license;
    2-8              (3)  for a continued and flagrant course of
    2-9  misrepresentation or for making false promises through agents,
   2-10  advertising, or otherwise;
   2-11              (4)  for failing to account for or remit, within a
   2-12  reasonable time as defined by rule of the commissioner, any money
   2-13  belonging to others that comes into his possession and for
   2-14  commingling funds of others with his own or failing to keep such
   2-15  funds of others in an escrow or trustee account;
   2-16              (5)  for conviction in a court of competent
   2-17  jurisdiction of this state or any other state of a criminal offense
   2-18  involving moral turpitude or a felony;
   2-19              (6)  for violation of this Act or any rule or
   2-20  regulation of the department; or
   2-21              (7)  for any violation of the Business & Commerce Code
   2-22  in the conduct of an auction.
   2-23        (f)  If, after a hearing, the commissioner determines that a
   2-24  license should be denied, revoked, or suspended, the applicant or
   2-25  licensee may appeal the commissioner's determination in the manner
    3-1  provided for contested cases under the Administrative Procedure and
    3-2  Texas Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil
    3-3  Statutes) <has 30 days in which to appeal the commissioner's
    3-4  decision to the district court of Travis County or of the county in
    3-5  which the violation is alleged to have occurred>.
    3-6        SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
    3-7        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-8  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-9  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-10  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-11  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.