By Wolens                                             H.B. No. 2809
         77R8239 SRC-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to statutory revision and statutory construction.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 311, Government Code, is
 1-5     amended by adding Section 311.033 to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 311.033.  EFFECT OF NONSUBSTANTIVE REVISION.  The
 1-7     codification of a statute under the continuing statutory revision
 1-8     program provided for by Section 323.007  in an act stating that no
 1-9     substantive change in law is intended does not affect the meaning
1-10     or effect of the statute.  A court  or other entity interpreting
1-11     and applying the codified statute shall give the codified statute
1-12     the same effect and meaning that was or would have been given the
1-13     statute before its codification, notwithstanding the repeal of the
1-14     prior statute and regardless of an omission or change that the
1-15     court or other entity would otherwise find to be direct,
1-16     unambiguous, and irreconcilable with prior law.  An omission or
1-17     change for which the court finds no direct evidence of legislative
1-18     intent to change the sense, meaning, or effect of the statute shall
1-19     be considered unintended and shall be treated as if the omission or
1-20     change were a typographical or similar error.
1-21           SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 311, Government Code, is
1-22     amended by adding Section 311.034 to read as follows:
1-23           Sec. 311.034.  WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.  A statute shall
1-24     not be construed as a waiver of sovereign immunity unless the
 2-1     waiver is effected by clear and unambiguous language.  In a
 2-2     statute, the use of "person," as defined by Section 311.005 to
 2-3     include governmental entities, does not indicate legislative intent
 2-4     to waive sovereign immunity unless the context of the statute
 2-5     indicates no other reasonable construction.
 2-6           SECTION 3. Chapter 323, Government Code, is amended by adding
 2-7     Section 323.0071 to read as follows:
 2-8           Sec. 323.0071.  EDITORIAL POWERS FOR STATUTES.  (a)  In this
 2-9     section, "section" includes titles, subtitles, chapters,
2-10     subchapters, sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, and
2-11     other numbered or lettered units of a statute.
2-12           (b)  The executive director of the council shall perform the
2-13     duties of revisor of statutes or designate an employee to perform
2-14     those duties.  The powers provided by this section are authorized
2-15     as part of the statutory revision program for the purposes of:
2-16                 (1)  conforming codifications to other acts of the same
2-17     legislature that amended the laws codified or added new law to
2-18     subject matter codified;
2-19                 (2)  making necessary corrections to enacted
2-20     codifications; and
2-21                 (3)  renumbering or relettering sections that duplicate
2-22     numbers or letters, are mislocated, or that are otherwise
2-23     inconsistent with the organization and arrangement of the codes.
2-24           (c)  In carrying out these powers the revisor may not alter
2-25     the sense, meaning, or effect of a statute.  If the revisor is in
2-26     doubt whether a specific change is authorized by this section, the
2-27     revisor may not make the change but shall incorporate the proposed
 3-1     change into legislation.
 3-2           (d)  In accordance with this section, the revisor may:
 3-3                 (1)  renumber or rearrange sections;
 3-4                 (2)  combine sections into other sections;
 3-5                 (3)  divide sections into other sections so as to give
 3-6     to distinct subject matters a section number or letter;
 3-7                 (4)  substitute a reference to the proper section for
 3-8     the terms "this act," "the preceding section," and the like;
 3-9                 (5)  substitute figures for written words and vice
3-10     versa;
3-11                 (6)  substitute the date on which the law becomes
3-12     effective for the words "the effective date of this act," and the
3-13     like;
3-14                 (7)  change capitalization for the purpose of
3-15     uniformity;
3-16                 (8)  correct manifest clerical, typographical,
3-17     grammatical, or punctuation errors;
3-18                 (9)  correct obviously misspelled words;
3-19                 (10)  change references to agree with renumbered or
3-20     relettered sections or to properly reflect references to other
3-21     statutes; and
3-22                 (11)  conform the provisions of a code to the
3-23     amendment, revision, or reenactment of a codified statute by the
3-24     same legislature that enacted the code, giving effect to the
3-25     requirements of Section 311.031(c).
3-26           (e)  In addition to the actions described by Subsection (d),
3-27     if two or more acts of a legislative session affect the same
 4-1     section and the revisor finds that there is no irreconcilable
 4-2     conflict between the changes made by each act, the revisor may
 4-3     harmonize the acts and incorporate the changes made by each act
 4-4     into the text of the section.
 4-5           (f)  The revisor shall prepare legislation that:
 4-6                 (1)  makes statutory changes and consolidations
 4-7     identified but not made by the revisor under this section;
 4-8                 (2)  corrects other statutory errors or inconsistencies
 4-9     identified by the revisor;
4-10                 (3)  repeals laws made unnecessary by the revisor's
4-11     actions; and
4-12                 (4)  validates the revisor's actions under this
4-13     section.
4-14           (g)  The revisor shall publish proposed actions under this
4-15     section in a report the form of which is designed to clearly
4-16     identify each proposed action, including words to be added or
4-17     deleted, and the purpose of each proposed action.
4-18           (h)  The revisor shall file notice of the report described by
4-19     Subsection (g) with the secretary of state for publication in the
4-20     Texas Register.  The notice must contain:
4-21                 (1)  a brief explanation of the report;
4-22                 (2)  the intended effective date of the proposed
4-23     actions;
4-24                 (3)  a description of how interested persons may obtain
4-25     the text of the report; and
4-26                 (4)  a request for  comment on the proposed actions by
4-27     affected governmental agencies and any other interested person.
 5-1           (i)  The effective date of actions proposed in the report may
 5-2     not be earlier than the 61st day after the date notice is published
 5-3     in the Texas Register.
 5-4           (j)  The revisor shall give all interested persons a
 5-5     reasonable opportunity to comment on the actions proposed in the
 5-6     report and shall fully consider all comments.
 5-7           (k)  The final actions of the revisor under this section
 5-8     shall be effected by order issued by the revisor and filed with the
 5-9     secretary of state.  The order takes effect on the date stated in
5-10     the order, which may not be earlier than the 31st day after the
5-11     date the order is filed with the secretary of state.  The secretary
5-12     of state shall publish the order in the Texas Register.
5-13           (l)  The revisor shall communicate actions under this section
5-14     to each publisher of Texas statutes, and  the text of the statutes
5-15     published by the publisher shall reflect the actions of the
5-16     revisor.
5-17           (m)  The saving provisions of Section 311.031 apply to
5-18     actions by the revisor under this section.
5-19           SECTION 4. The legislature finds the decision of the Texas
5-20     Supreme Court in  Fleming Foods of Texas, Inc. v. Rylander, 6 S.W.
5-21     3d 278 (Tex. 1999), to be inconsistent with the clear and
5-22     repeatedly expressed intent of the legislature in the enactment of
5-23     the Tax Code and other nonsubstantive  codes enacted under the
5-24     state's continuing statutory revision program under Section
5-25     323.007, Government Code.  The absence of any legislative action
5-26     subsequent to the holding in Fleming Foods of Texas, Inc. v.
5-27     Rylander shall not be construed as legislative acceptance of the
 6-1     holding in that case.
 6-2           SECTION 5. Section 323.008, Government Code, is repealed.
 6-3           SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a
 6-4     vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
 6-5     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
 6-6     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
 6-7     Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
 6-8     legislative session.