1-1 By: Bivins, et al. S.B. No. 274
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 26, 1999; February 1, 1999,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development;
1-4 March 22, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute; March 29, 1999, recommitted to Committee on Economic
1-6 Development; April 6, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
1-7 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0;
1-8 April 6, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-9 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 274 By: Armbrister
1-10 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-11 AN ACT
1-12 relating to class actions.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Government Code, is
1-15 amended by adding Section 22.015 to read as follows:
1-16 Sec. 22.015. CLASS ACTIONS. The supreme court by rule may
1-17 allow certification of a class of persons for the purpose of
1-18 settling an action that is different from the persons that may have
1-19 been certified as a class for the purpose of litigating the action.
1-20 SECTION 2. Subsections (b) and (d), Section 22.225,
1-21 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-22 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or (d), a judgment
1-23 of a court of appeals is conclusive on the law and facts, and a
1-24 review may not be granted by [writ of error is not allowed from]
1-25 the supreme court, in the following civil cases:
1-26 (1) a case appealed from a county court or from a
1-27 district court when, under the constitution, a county court would
1-28 have had original or appellate jurisdiction of the case, with the
1-29 exception of a probate matter or a case involving state revenue
1-30 laws or the validity or construction of a statute;
1-31 (2) a case of a contested election other than a
1-32 contested election for a state officer, with the exception of a
1-33 case where the validity of a statute is questioned by the decision;
1-34 (3) an appeal from an interlocutory order appointing a
1-35 receiver or trustee or from other interlocutory appeals that are
1-36 allowed by law;
1-37 (4) an appeal from an order or judgment in a suit in
1-38 which a temporary injunction has been granted or refused or when a
1-39 motion to dissolve has been granted or overruled; and
1-40 (5) all other cases except the cases where appellate
1-41 jurisdiction is given to the supreme court and is not made final in
1-42 the courts of appeals.
1-43 (d) Review [A writ of error] is allowed in [from] the
1-44 supreme court for an appeal from an interlocutory order described
1-45 by Section 51.014(a)(3) or (6) [Section 51.014(6)], Civil Practice
1-46 and Remedies Code.
1-47 SECTION 3. Section 51.014, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
1-48 is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to
1-49 read as follows:
1-50 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an [An]
1-51 interlocutory appeal under Subsection (a) shall have the effect of
1-52 staying the commencement of a trial in the trial court pending
1-53 resolution of the appeal.
1-54 (c) An interlocutory appeal under Subsection (a)(3) shall
1-55 have the effect of staying all proceedings in the trial court
1-56 pending resolution of the appeal.
1-57 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
1-58 applies only to an action commenced on or after that date. An
1-59 action that commenced before the effective date of this Act is
1-60 governed by the law applicable to the action immediately before the
1-61 effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
1-62 that purpose.
1-63 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
1-64 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-4 * * * * *