By Danburg                                            H.B. No. 1430
         77R3970 JRD-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to providing for the automatic expiration of the rules of
 1-3     an abolished state agency and for the repeal of invalid rules.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 325.017(a), Government Code, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  A state agency that is abolished in an odd-numbered year
 1-8     may continue in existence until September 1 of the following year
 1-9     to conclude its business.  Unless the law provides otherwise,
1-10     abolishment does not reduce or otherwise limit the powers and
1-11     authority of the state agency during the concluding year.  A state
1-12     agency is terminated and shall cease all activities at the
1-13     expiration of the one-year period. Unless the law provides
1-14     otherwise, all rules that have been adopted by the state agency
1-15     expire at the expiration of the one-year period.
1-16           SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 2002, Government Code, is
1-17     amended by adding Section 2002.058 to read as follows:
1-18           Sec. 2002.058.  OBSOLETE OR INVALID RULES. (a)  Unless the
1-19     law provides otherwise, the secretary of state shall remove a state
1-20     agency's rules from the administrative code after the agency has
1-21     been abolished.  If the legislature transfers the abolished
1-22     agency's rules to another state agency, the secretary of state
1-23     shall transfer the rules to the appropriate place in the
1-24     administrative code.
 2-1           (b)  A state agency shall repeal a rule that has been
 2-2     declared invalid by a final court judgment.  For purposes of this
 2-3     subsection, a court judgment is not considered final during the
 2-4     time that the judgment may be reversed by an appellate court.
 2-5           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.