By: Harris S.B. No. 1817
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to prohibiting the sale or purchase of toner cartridges
1-2 with restrictions on the recycling or remanufacturing.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 15, Section 15.05, Business
1-5 and Commerce Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 Se. 15.05. Unlawful Practices (a) Every contract,
1-7 combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce is
1-8 unlawful.
1-9 (b) It is unlawful for any person to monopolize, attempt to
1-10 monopolize, or conspire to monopolize any part of trade or
1-11 commerce.
1-12 (c) It is unlawful for any person to sell, lease, or
1-13 contract for the sale or lease of any goods, whether patented or
1-14 unpatented, for use, consumption, or resale or to fix a price for
1-15 such use, consumption, or resale or to discount from or rebate upon
1-16 such price, on the condition, agreement, or understanding that the
1-17 purchaser or lessee shall not use or deal in the goods of a
1-18 competitor or competitors of the seller or lessor, where the effect
1-19 of the condition, agreement, or understanding may be to lessen
1-20 competition substantially in any line of trade or commerce.
1-21 (d) It is unlawful for any person to acquire, directly or
1-22 indirectly, the whole or any part of the stock or other share
2-1 capital or the assets of any other person or persons, where the
2-2 effect of such acquisition may be to lessen competition
2-3 substantially in any line of trade or commerce. This subsection
2-4 shall not be construed:
2-5 (1) to prohibit the purchase of stock or other share
2-6 capital of another person where the purchase is made solely for
2-7 investment and does not confer control of that person in a manner
2-8 that could substantially lessen competition;
2-9 (2) to prevent a corporation from forming subsidiary
2-10 or parent corporations for the purpose of conducting its
2-11 immediately lawful business, or any natural and legitimate branch
2-12 extensions of such business, or from owning and holding all or a
2-13 part of the stock or other share capital of a subsidiary, or
2-14 transferring all or part of its stock or other share capital to be
2-15 owned and held by a parent, where the effect of such a transaction
2-16 is not to lessen competition substantially;
2-17 (3) to affect or impair any right previously legally
2-18 acquired; or
2-19 (4) to apply to transactions duly consummated pursuant
2-20 to authority given by any statute of this state or of the United
2-21 States or pursuant to authority or approval given by any regulatory
2-22 agency of this state or of the United States under any
2-23 constitutional or statutory provisions vesting the agency with such
2-24 power.
2-25 (e) It is unlawful to purchase or sell a toner cartridge
2-26 with restrictions on its resale, reuse or remanufacture.
3-1 [(e)] (f) It is unlawful for an employer and a labor union or
3-2 other organization to agree or combine so that:
3-3 (1) a person is denied the right to work for an
3-4 employer because of membership or nonmembership in the labor union
3-5 or other organization; or
3-6 (2) membership or nonmembership in the labor union or
3-7 other organization is made a condition of obtaining or keeping a
3-8 job with the employer.
3-9 [(f)] (g) It is not unlawful for:
3-10 (1) employees to agree to quit their employment or to
3-11 refuse to deal with tangible personal property of their immediate
3-12 employer, unless their refusal to deal with tangible personal
3-13 property of their immediate employer is intended to induce or has
3-14 the effect of inducing that employer to refrain from buying or
3-15 otherwise acquiring tangible personal property from a person; or
3-16 (2) persons to agree to refer for employment a
3-17 migratory worker who works on seasonal crops if the referral is
3-18 made irrespective of whether or not the worker belongs to a labor
3-19 union or organization.
3-20 [(g)] (h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to
3-21 prohibit activities that are exempt from the operation of the
3-22 federal antitrust laws, 15 U.S.C. Section 1 et seq., except that an
3-23 exemption otherwise available under the McCarran-Ferguson Act (15
3-24 U.S.C. Sections 1011-1015) does not serve to exempt activities
3-25 under this Act. Nothing in this section shall apply to actions
3-26 required or affirmatively approved by any statute of this state or
4-1 of the United States or by a regulatory agency of this state or of
4-2 the United States duly acting under any constitutional or statutory
4-3 authority vesting the agency with such power.
4-4 [(h)] (i) In any lawsuit alleging a contract, combination, or
4-5 conspiracy to fix prices, evidence of uniform prices alone shall
4-6 not be sufficient to establish a violation of Subsection (a) or
4-7 Section 15.05.
4-8 [(i)] (j) In determining whether a restraint related to the
4-9 sale of delivery of professional services is reasonable, except in
4-10 cases involving price fixing, or other per se violations, the court
4-11 may consider, but shall not reach its decision solely on the basis
4-12 of criteria which include:
4-13 (1) whether the activities involved maintain or improve
4-14 the quality of such services to benefit the public interest;
4-15 (2) whether the activities involved limit or reduce the
4-16 cost of such services to benefit the public interest. For purposes
4-17 of this subsection, the term "professional services" means services
4-18 performed by any licensed accountant, physician, or professional
4-19 engineer in connection with his or her professional employment or
4-20 practice.
4-21 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-22 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.