HBA-MPA H.B. 324 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 324 By: Brown, Fred Licensing & Admin. Proced. 2/15/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, there are over 2,800 licensed auctioneers in Texas, and auctioneers are continually coming into the state to hold auctions and leaving in less than a week's time. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has one part-time investigator assigned to the auctioneer program. H.B. 324 allows fees and fines collected for enforcement of auctioneer laws to be used for additional enforcement personnel and for travel allowances. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in SECTION 1 (Article 8700, Section 11, V.T.C.S.) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 11, Article 8700,V.T.C.S., as follows: (c) Authorizes the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (department), by rule, to set penalties and fines for violation. Section 12. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES. (a) Requires that all money collected by the department, excluding funds for the Education and Recovery Fund, be deposited in the general fund and credited to the auctioneers account and used only to administer this chapter. (b) Requires the executive director to allocate no more than 20 percent of the money in the account in the general revenue fund to cover administrative costs of the department. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.