HBA-NLM, H.B. 814 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 814 By: Jones, Jesse Financial Institutions 3/2/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, the consumer credit commissioner (commissioner) is required by statute to conduct a public hearing before issuing a pawnshop license. The Texas Pawnshop Act (TPA), which provides for the regulation and licensing of pawnshops, does not provide for public notification of pawnshop license applications and consequently, community residents are often aware of their opportunity to participate in the public hearing process. H.B. 814 requires each applicant for a pawnshop license for a location in a county with a population of 1.5 million or more to publish notice of the application. This bill also requires the commissioner to give notice of each pawnshop license application made for a location in a county with a population of 1.5 million or more to the county judge of the county or the mayor or other presiding officer of the governing body of the municipality in which the applicant's business is to be conducted, and to the state representative and the state senator in whose district the applicant's business is to be conducted. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the consumer credit commissioner in SECTION 1 ( Section 371.0543, Finance Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 371, Finance Code, by adding Sections 371.0541, 371.0542, and 371.0543, as follows: Sec. 371.0541. PUBLICATION OF APPLICATION NOTICE IN COUNTIES OF 1.5 MILLION OR MORE. (a) Requires each applicant for a pawnshop license for a location in a county with a population of 1.5 million or more to publish notice of the application, at the applicant's own expense, in two consecutive issues of a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality in which the applicant's business is to be conducted. Provides that if a newspaper is not published in the municipality or if the business is to be conducted in an unincorporated area of the county, the applicant is required to publish the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, or in an adjacent county if a newspaper is not published in that county, and circulated in the county in which the applicant's business is to be conducted. (b) Provides that the notice must be printed in 10-point bold-faced type and include the address of the place of business for which the pawnshop license is sought, and the full name of the applicant or each partner if the applicant is a partnership, or the full name and title of each officer of the corporation if the applicant is a corporation. Sec. 371.0542. NOTICE BY SIGN IN COUNTIES OF 1.5 MILLION OR MORE. (a) Requires an applicant for a pawnshop license under this section at the applicant's expense to post an outdoor sign at the proposed location that states that an application for a pawnshop license has been made for those premises and lists the applicant's name and business address. (b) Provides that the sign must be written and sized in a manner in which the consumer credit commissioner (commissioner) determines adequate to inform the public of the intended use of the property as a pawnshop. Authorizes the commissioner to require the sign to be both in English and another language that is likely to be spoken by a substantial number of residents in the area. (c) Prohibits the commissioner from denying a license application for failure to post the notice required by this section if the commissioner determines that the area's residents are adequately aware of the nature of the application. Sec. 371.0543. RULES. Authorizes the commissioner to adopt rules as necessary to enforce Sections 371.0541 and 371.0542. SECTION 2. Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 371, Finance Code, by adding Section 371.0571, as follows: Sec. 371.0571. APPLICATION NOTICE TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN COUNTIES OF 1.5 MILLION OR MORE. Requires the commissioner to give notice of each pawnshop license application made for a location in a county with a population of 1.5 million or more to the county judge of the county or the mayor or other presiding officer of the governing body of the municipality in which the applicant's business is to be conducted, and the state representative and the state senator in whose district the applicant's business is to be conducted. SECTION 3. Amends Section 371.058(b), Finance Code, to require the commissioner to allow any person, rather than only a pawnbroker, that would be affected by the granting of a pawnshop license, to appear and be heard concerning the application. Makes a nonsubstantive change. SECTION 4. Amends Section 371.059, Finance Code, to specify that the commissioner consider the public safety, health, and welfare of the community that would be affected, in addition to making certain enumerated findings, before being required to approve an application and issue a license. SECTION 5. Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 6. Emergency clause.