76R11743 DAK-D                           
         By Cuellar, Gutierrez, Craddick, Hilderbran            H.B. No. 209
         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 209:
         By Keffer                                          C.S.H.B. No. 209
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to exempting the purchase of certain school supplies from
 1-3     the sales tax.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended
 1-6     by adding Section 151.326 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 151.326.  SCHOOL SUPPLIES BEFORE START OF SCHOOL.  (a)
 1-8     A tangible item is exempted from the  taxes imposed by this chapter
 1-9     if the item:
1-10                 (1)  is required for use by a student in a class in a
1-11     public or private elementary or secondary school;
1-12                 (2)  is on a list issued before the beginning of the
1-13     school year by the teacher of the class or the school in which the
1-14     class takes place;
1-15                 (3)  has a value of less than $25; and
1-16                 (4)  is purchased during August.
1-17           (b)  The exemption provided by Subsection (a) does not apply
1-18     to clothing or footwear.
1-19           (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), the purchaser must
1-20     give the seller an exemption certificate that certifies in writing
1-21     to the seller that the tangible item qualifies as exempt under
1-22     Subsection (a).
1-23           (d)  An exemption certificate is not required if:
1-24                 (1)  the seller of the tangible item maintains a
 2-1     separate section or display that contains only items that qualify
 2-2     as exempt under Subsection (a); or
 2-3                 (2)  the tangible item that qualifies as exempt under
 2-4     Subsection (a) is sold by the student's school or a parent-teacher
 2-5     organization of the student's school.
 2-6           (e)  The comptroller by rule may specify examples of tangible
 2-7     items typically required for use by a student in a class in a
 2-8     public or private elementary or secondary school and, if the
 2-9     requirements of this section are met, eligible for exemption under
2-10     this section.
2-11           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect on the first day of
2-12     the first calendar quarter beginning on or after the date that it
2-13     may take effect under Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
2-14           (b)  The change in law made by this Act does not affect taxes
2-15     imposed before the effective date of this Act, and the law in
2-16     effect before the effective date of this Act is continued in effect
2-17     for purposes of the liability for and collection of those taxes.
2-18           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-23     and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
2-24     terms, and it is so enacted.