By Janek                                              H.B. No. 1435
         76R5069 DWS-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to charges for title fees, property taxes, and
 1-3     registration fees for leased vehicles.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Article 9026a, Revised Statutes, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           Art. 9026a. CHARGES FOR TITLE FEES,  REGISTRATION FEES, AND
 1-8     PROPERTY TAXES.  (a)  A person required to register under Section
 1-9     152.065, Tax Code, may include in a customer agreement a [separate]
1-10     charge for the proportionate amount of title fees, registration
1-11     fees, and property taxes paid in the preceding calendar year on the
1-12     person's vehicle fleet.
1-13           (b)  If a person includes a charge under Subsection (a) of
1-14     this article in a customer agreement, the charge:
1-15                 (1)  must be included on a nondiscriminatory basis;
1-16     [and]
1-17                 (2)  shall be collected in each agreement other than an
1-18     agreement that is exempt from a tax imposed under Section 152.026,
1-19     Tax Code; and
1-20                 (3)  may not be billed separately, but must be included
1-21     as an itemized charge in a billing statement that includes all
1-22     other charges under the customer agreement.
1-23           (c)  A person commits an offense if the person violates this
1-24     article. An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
 2-1           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
 2-2     applies only to customer agreements entered into on or after that
 2-3     date.  A customer agreement entered into before the effective date
 2-4     of this Act is governed by the law as it existed before the
 2-5     effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
 2-6     that purpose.
 2-7           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-8     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-9     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-10     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-11     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.