MINUTES 
          
                    SENATE INTERIM COMMITTEE ON CIVIL JUSTICE 
                            Thursday, April 23, 1998 
                                     9:30 am 
                                 Senate Chamber 
          
                                      ***** 
          
         Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule  
         11.11, a public hearing of the Senate Interim Committee on  
         Civil Justice was held on Thursday, April 23, 1998 in the  
         Senate Chamber at Austin, Texas.   
          
                                      ***** 
          
         MEMBERS PRESENT:                        MEMBER ABSENT: 
         Senator David Sibley, Chairman          Senator J.E. (Buster)  
         Brown 
         Senator Gonzalo Barrientos 
         Senator Teel Bivins 
         Senator David Cain 
         Senator Robert Duncan 
         Senator Eliot Shapleigh 
          
                                      ***** 
          
         The Chairman called the meeting to order at 9:40 am.  There  
         being a quorum present, the following business was transacted.   
          
         Chairman Sibley recognized Senator Bivins, who thanked the  
         members for their attendance and advised that the Committee  
         would focus on uninsured/underinsured motorists in Texas at  
         the hearing. 
          
         The Chairman called Elton Bomer, Commissioner, Texas  
         Department of Insurance, for an overview of the uninsured  
         motorists problem in Texas.  Upon completion of Commissioner  
         Bomer's testimony and response to members' questions, Chairman  
         Sibley called the first panel to testify on enforcement  
         issues.  The panelists were: 
          
              Major E. C. Sherman, Texas Department of Public Safety 
              Frank Elder, Texas Department of Public Safety 
              Eric Loewe, National Association of Independent Insurers 
              Jerry Dike, Vehicles Titling & Registration, Texas  
         Department of Transportation 
              Professor Jeffrey O'Connell, University of Virginia  
         School of Law 
          
         Following the panelists' presentations and response to  
         members' questions, the Chairman called Carolyn Purcell,  
         Executive Director of the Department of Information Resources,  
         to advise the Committee regarding the cost of a database to  
  
         identify uninsured motorists, based on legislation proposed  
         during the 75th legislative session. 
          
         Chairman Sibley then called the second panel to testify on  
         possible changes in the tort system.  These panelists were: 
          
              Professor Jeffrey O'Connell, University of Virginia  
         School of Law 
              Mike Slack, Texas Trial Lawyers Association 
              Andrew Tobias, writer and advocate for no-fault and no  
         pay/no play options 
              Tim Ryles, former Georgia Insurance Commissioner 
              Robert Watkins, State Farm Insurance Companies 
              Jeffrey P. Campbell, Texas Association of Defense  
         Counsels 
          
         Following the second panelists' testimony and response to  
         members' questions, the Chairman called Lyndon Anderson,  
         Associate Commissioner, Property and Casualty, David Durden,  
         Deputy Commissioner, Auto-Homeowners, and Philip Presley,  
         Chief Actuary, of the Texas Department of Insurance, to  
         respond to members' questions. 
          
         Chairman Sibley then advised that public testimony would  
         commence.  All witnesses, including panelists, are listed in  
         the order of appearance. 
          
              W. H. "Sputnik" Strain, representing Texas Motorcycle  
         Rights Assoc., Algoa, Texas 
              Dan Lambe, representing Texas Citizen Action, Austin,  
         Texas 
              Guillermo Gaslin, representing himself, Cedar Park, Texas 
              Jack Lee Riley, representing himself, Amarillo, Texas 
              Birny Birnbaum, representing Center for Economic Justice,  
         Austin, Texas 
          
         There being no further business, at 2:35 pm Chairman Sibley  
         moved that the Committee stand recessed subject to the call of  
         the Chairman.  Without objection, it was so ordered.   
          
         __________________________ 
         Senator David Sibley, Chairman 
          
         __________________________ 
         Barbara Henderson, Clerk