CN C.S.H.B. 2069 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS


JUVENILE JUSTICE & FAMILY ISSUES
C.S.H.B. 2069
By:  Denny
4-24-97
Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND

The comprehensive welfare reform bill passed last session included a
provision that required persons applying for a marriage license to submit
a sworn affidavit witnessed by two individuals stating that they were not
delinquent in the payment of court-ordered child support.  Failure to
submit the sworn statement or delinquency of court-ordered child support
was cause for denial of a marriage license.  The attorney general issued
an opinion that these sections were unconstitutional.  The AG opinion
found the requirement placed an undue burden on someone wishing to attain
a marriage license from the state even though the state will recognize a
marriage union without having issued a license. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of H.B. 2069 is to to remove the sections of the Family Code
that the attorney general opined were unconstitutional, and add a
true/false statement to the marriage license application to determine
whether an individual is delinquent in court-ordered child support for
record keeping purposes only. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or
institution. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 2.004(b), Family Code, by making conforming
changes after adding a printed box for the applicant to check "true" or
"false" in response to the statement; "I am not presently delinquent in
the payment of court-ordered child support." 

SECTION 2. The act takes effect only if the 75th legislature, in regular
session, enacts S.B. 334. 

SECTION 3. Effective date, September 1, 1997.
 
SECTION 4. Emergency clause.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute adds to the bill caption " relating to certain information
provided in an application for a marriage license".  

The substitute adds the new language referring to child support
information in Section 2.004(b), Family Code, as added by S.B. 334, Acts
of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997. The original placed the
child support language in Section 1.03(b), Family Code.  

The substitute deletes Section 2 of the original bill, where language in
Sec. 107(a)(1), Family Code, strikes the reference to Section 1.045,
Family Code. The substitute adds a new Section 2, where the act takes
effect only if the 75th legislature, in regular session, enacts S.B. 334.
If the legislation does not become law, the act has no effect. 

The substitute deletes Section 3 of the original bill stating Sec. 1.045,
Family Code is repealed.