By King of Uvalde                                     H.B. No. 2427
         76R5406 MLS-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to reporting and delivering unclaimed property to the
 1-3     comptroller.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 74.102, Property Code, is amended to read
 1-6     as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 74.102.  SIGNED STATEMENT [VERIFICATION].  (a)  The
 1-8     person preparing a property report shall provide with each copy of
 1-9     the report a statement signed [verification made under oath and
1-10     executed] by:
1-11                 (1)  the individual holding the reported property;
1-12                 (2)  a partner, if the holder is a partnership;
1-13                 (3)  an officer, if the holder is an unincorporated
1-14     association or a private corporation; or
1-15                 (4)  the chief fiscal officer, if the holder is a
1-16     public corporation.
1-17           (b)  The statement [verification] must include the following
1-18     sentence:
1-19           "This report contains a full and complete list of all
1-20     property held by the undersigned that, from the knowledge and
1-21     records of the undersigned, is abandoned under the laws of the
1-22     State of Texas."
1-23           (c)  The comptroller may adopt rules or policies relating to
1-24     the signature requirement, as the comptroller determines
 2-1     appropriate, to maximize  the use of future developments in
 2-2     electronic filing technology.
 2-3           SECTION 2.  Section 74.301(c), Property Code, is amended to
 2-4     read as follows:
 2-5           (c)  If the property subject to delivery under Subsection (a)
 2-6     is the contents of a safe deposit box, the comptroller may instruct
 2-7     a holder to deliver the property on a specified date before [after]
 2-8     November 1 [but before June 1] of the  following year.
 2-9           SECTION 3.  Section 74.101(b), Property Code, is repealed.
2-10           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-11           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-12     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-13     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-14     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-15     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.