By Oliveira                                      H.B. No. 564

      75R2989 PB-F                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to certain hearings and investigations conducted by the

 1-3     Texas Workforce Commission.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 301, Labor Code, is amended

 1-6     by adding Section 301.0615 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 301.0615.  APPLICATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.

 1-8     (a)  Except as otherwise provided by this title, a hearing

 1-9     conducted under this title is not subject to:

1-10                 (1)  Section 2001.038, Government Code; or

1-11                 (2)  Subchapters C-H, Chapter 2001, Government Code.

1-12           (b)  A commission order or decision that results from a

1-13     hearing conducted under this title is not subject to the

1-14     requirements imposed under:

1-15                 (1)  Section 2001.004(3), Government Code; or

1-16                 (2)  Section 2001.005, Government Code.

1-17           SECTION 2.  Sections 301.071(a) and (b), Labor Code, are

1-18     amended to read as follows:

1-19           (a)  In discharging duties imposed under this title [Subtitle

1-20     A], an appeal tribunal established under this title [Section

1-21     212.101], an examiner or other hearings officer employed or

1-22     appointed by the commission or the executive director, a member of

1-23     the commission, or a representative authorized by the commission

1-24     may:

 2-1                 (1)  administer oaths;

 2-2                 (2)  take depositions;

 2-3                 (3)  certify to official acts; and

 2-4                 (4)  issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of

 2-5     witnesses and the production of books, papers, correspondence,

 2-6     memoranda, and other records considered necessary as evidence in

 2-7     connection with a disputed claim or the administration of this

 2-8     title [Subtitle A].

 2-9           (b)  The commission's authority to conduct an investigation,

2-10     assemble information, or require the submission of documentary or

2-11     oral testimony is limited to the power necessary to properly

2-12     administer this title [Subtitle A].

2-13           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

2-14     applies only to a hearing or investigation conducted by the Texas

2-15     Workforce Commission that is based on an event that occurs on or

2-16     after that date.  A hearing or investigation based on an event that

2-17     occurs before that date is governed by the law in effect on the

2-18     date that the event occurred, and the former law is continued in

2-19     effect for that purpose.

2-20           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-22     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.