1-1 By: Williams (Senate Sponsor - Bernsen) H.B. No. 2367 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2001; 1-3 May 7, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-4 Jurisprudence; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following 1-5 vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.) 1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-7 AN ACT 1-8 relating to the liability of certain nonprofit organizations and 1-9 their employees and volunteers. 1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-11 SECTION 1. Section 84.003(1), Civil Practice and Remedies 1-12 Code, is amended to read as follows: 1-13 (1) "Charitable organization" means: 1-14 (A) any organization exempt from federal income 1-15 tax under Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by 1-16 being listed as an exempt organization in Section 501(c)(3) or 1-17 501(c)(4) of the code, if it is a nonprofit corporation, 1-18 foundation, community chest, or fund organized and operated 1-19 exclusively for charitable, religious, prevention of cruelty to 1-20 children or animals, youth sports and youth recreational, 1-21 neighborhood crime prevention or patrol, fire protection or 1-22 prevention, emergency medical or hazardous material response 1-23 services, or educational purposes, excluding private primary or 1-24 secondary schools, alumni associations and related on-campus 1-25 organizations, or is organized and operated exclusively for the 1-26 promotion of social welfare by being primarily engaged in promoting 1-27 the common good and general welfare of the people in a community; 1-28 (B) any bona fide charitable, religious, 1-29 prevention of cruelty to children or animals, youth sports and 1-30 youth recreational, neighborhood crime prevention or patrol, or 1-31 educational organization, excluding alumni associations and related 1-32 on-campus organizations, or other organization organized and 1-33 operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare by being 1-34 primarily engaged in promoting the common good and general welfare 1-35 of the people in a community, and that: 1-36 (i) is organized and operated exclusively 1-37 for one or more of the above purposes; 1-38 (ii) does not engage in activities which 1-39 in themselves are not in furtherance of the purpose or purposes; 1-40 (iii) does not directly or indirectly 1-41 participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or 1-42 in opposition to any candidate for public office; 1-43 (iv) dedicates its assets to achieving the 1-44 stated purpose or purposes of the organization; 1-45 (v) does not allow any part of its net 1-46 assets on dissolution of the organization to inure to the benefit 1-47 of any group, shareholder, or individual; and 1-48 (vi) normally receives more than one-third 1-49 of its support in any year from private or public gifts, grants, 1-50 contributions, or membership fees; or 1-51 (C) a homeowners association as defined by 1-52 Section 528(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or which is 1-53 exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(a) of the Internal 1-54 Revenue Code of 1986 by being listed as an exempt organization in 1-55 Section 501(c)(4) of the code. 1-56 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and 1-57 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after that 1-58 date. An action that accrued before the effective date of this Act 1-59 is governed by the law applicable to the action immediately before 1-60 the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect 1-61 for that purpose. 1-62 * * * * *