By Brimer H.B. No. 1485
75R2286 JMM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the appeal of certain administrative proceedings
1-3 regarding the payment of wages.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 61.061(a) and (c), Labor Code, are
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) The commission shall mail to each party to the appeal
1-8 notice of:
1-9 (1) the decision;
1-10 (2) the amount of wages subject to the order;
1-11 (3) the amount of any penalty assessed; and
1-12 (4) the parties' right to seek [judicial] review of
1-13 the order by the commission.
1-14 (c) The order becomes final 14 days after the date on which
1-15 it is mailed unless before that date:
1-16 (1) a party to the appeal files for review of the
1-17 order by the commission [a written motion for rehearing]; or
1-18 (2) the commission reopens the hearing.
1-19 SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 61, Labor Code, is amended
1-20 by adding Section 61.0615 to read as follows:
1-21 Sec. 61.0615. COMMISSION REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING.
1-22 (a) Review of an administrative order by the commission under this
1-23 subchapter is subject to the rules and procedures used by the
1-24 commission in reviewing a decision by an appeal tribunal regarding
2-1 a claim for unemployment compensation.
2-2 (b) The commission may:
2-3 (1) on its own motion:
2-4 (A) affirm, modify, or set aside any decision of
2-5 a hearing officer on the basis of the evidence previously submitted
2-6 in the case; or
2-7 (B) direct the taking of additional evidence; or
2-8 (2) permit any of the parties to the decision to
2-9 initiate a further appeal before the commission.
2-10 (c) The commission promptly shall mail to the parties before
2-11 it:
2-12 (1) a copy of its findings and decision; and
2-13 (2) an explanation of the parties' right to judicial
2-14 review of the commission's final decision.
2-15 (d) A decision of the commission becomes final 14 days after
2-16 the date the decision is mailed unless before that date:
2-17 (1) the commission by order reopens the appeal; or
2-18 (2) a party to the appeal files a written motion for
2-19 rehearing.
2-20 (e) If a motion for rehearing is denied by the commission,
2-21 the decision of the commission becomes the final order of the
2-22 commission 14 days after the date the commission denied the motion
2-23 unless, before that date, the commission reopens the appeal.
2-24 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
2-25 applies only to a wage claim filed with the Texas Workforce
2-26 Commission on or after that date. A wage claim filed before that
2-27 date is governed by the law in effect on the date the claim was
3-1 filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-2 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.