By Noriega                                             H.B. No. 656
         76R3537 PEP-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the penalty for sale or delivery of a substance
 1-3     containing a volatile chemical to a minor.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 484.005(e), Health and Safety Code, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (e)  An offense under this section is a state jail felony
 1-8     [Class B misdemeanor].
 1-9           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
1-10     to an offense committed on or after the  effective date of this
1-11     Act.  An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
1-12     covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
1-13     the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.  For
1-14     purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
1-15     effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
1-16     before that date.
1-17           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-18           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.