1-1     By:  Dunnam (Senate Sponsor - Ellis)                  H.B. No. 1805
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 1999;
 1-3     May 14, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the exemption of insurance benefits from garnishment,
 1-9     attachment, execution, or other seizure.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 42.002(a), Property Code, is amended to
1-12     read as follows:
1-13           (a)  The following personal property is exempt under Section
1-14     42.001(a):
1-15                 (1)  home furnishings, including family heirlooms;
1-16                 (2)  provisions for consumption;
1-17                 (3)  farming or ranching vehicles and implements;
1-18                 (4)  tools, equipment, books, and apparatus, including
1-19     boats and motor vehicles used in a trade or profession;
1-20                 (5)  wearing apparel;
1-21                 (6)  jewelry not to exceed 25 percent of the aggregate
1-22     limitations prescribed by Section 42.001(a);
1-23                 (7)  two firearms;
1-24                 (8)  athletic and sporting equipment, including
1-25     bicycles;
1-26                 (9)  a two-wheeled, three-wheeled, or four-wheeled
1-27     motor vehicle for each member of a family or single adult who holds
1-28     a driver's license or who does not hold a driver's license but who
1-29     relies on another person to operate the vehicle for the benefit of
1-30     the nonlicensed person;
1-31                 (10)  the following animals and forage on hand for
1-32     their consumption:
1-33                       (A)  two horses, mules, or donkeys and a saddle,
1-34     blanket, and bridle for each;
1-35                       (B)  12 head of cattle;
1-36                       (C)  60 head of other types of livestock; and
1-37                       (D)  120 fowl; and
1-38                 (11)  household pets[; and]
1-39                 [(12)  the present value of any life insurance policy
1-40     to the extent that a member of the family of the insured or a
1-41     dependent of a single  insured adult claiming the exemption is a
1-42     beneficiary of the policy].
1-43           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-44     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-45     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-46     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-47     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-48     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-49     passage, and it is so enacted.
1-50                                  * * * * *