1-1     By:  Nelson, Sibley                                    S.B. No. 867
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 22, 2001; February 26, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce;
 1-4     March 8, 2001, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 8, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                            By:  Shapleigh
 1-7     Amend S.B. No. 867 as follows:
 1-8           (1)  In SECTION 1, in Subsection (b) (page 1, lines 29-30,
 1-9     strike "The lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of
1-10     representatives shall each appoint five members to the task force"
1-11     and substitute:  "The lieutenant governor shall appoint five
1-12     senators and the speaker of the house of representatives shall
1-13     appoint five members of the house of representatives to the task
1-14     force".
1-15           (2)  In SECTION 2, in Subsection (b) (page 1, line 55),
1-16     between "auditor," and "the Department", add "the Texas Department
1-17     of Insurance,".
1-18           (3)  In SECTION 2, in Subsection (b) (page 1, line 59),
1-19     between "medicine," and "and information", add "consumer affairs,".
1-20                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-21                                   AN ACT
1-22     relating to the creation, operation, and duties of a joint interim
1-23     task force to study various issues affecting personal privacy.
1-24           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-25           SECTION 1.  TASK FORCE ON PERSONAL PRIVACY.  (a)  The
1-26     lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives
1-27     shall establish a joint interim task force to study issues
1-28     identified by this Act that affect personal privacy.
1-29           (b)  The lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of
1-30     representatives shall each appoint five members to the task force.
1-31           (c)  The task force shall elect a presiding officer and
1-32     assistant presiding officer from among its members.
1-33           (d)  The task force shall meet at the times and places within
1-34     the state that the task force designates.  The task force shall
1-35     develop and implement policies that provide the public with a
1-36     reasonable opportunity to appear before the task force and to speak
1-37     on any issue being studied by the task force.
1-38           (e)  A legislative entity shall assist the task force at the
1-39     request of the lieutenant governor or the speaker of the house of
1-40     representatives, and a state agency in the executive branch of
1-41     state government shall assist the task force at the request of the
1-42     task force.
1-43           (f)  Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
1-44     size or composition of the task force or of the advisory committee
1-45     created under Section 2 of this Act.
1-46           SECTION 2.  ADVISORY COMMITTEE.  (a)  The task force shall
1-47     appoint an advisory committee to assist it in performing its
1-48     duties.
1-49           (b)  The advisory committee consists of the number of members
1-50     that the task force considers advisable.  The task force shall
1-51     appoint an approximately equal number of members from the public
1-52     and private sectors.  Public-sector appointments must include
1-53     representatives from state agencies such as the office of the
1-54     comptroller of public accounts, the office of the governor, the
1-55     office of the attorney general, the office of the state auditor,
1-56     the Department of Information Resources, the Texas Department of
1-57     Banking, and the Health and Human Services Commission.
1-58     Private-sector appointments must include individuals involved in
1-59     fields such as banking, marketing, the news media, medicine, and
1-60     information technology.  The advisory committee must include
1-61     members who understand the implications that advances in
1-62     information technology have for personal privacy.
1-63           SECTION 3.  ANALYSIS OF EXISTING AND PROPOSED LAW.  (a)  The
 2-1     task force shall identify and analyze existing and proposed privacy
 2-2     statutes and rules of this state, other states, and the federal
 2-3     government.  In performing an analysis under this subsection, the
 2-4     task force shall address the extent to which the existing or
 2-5     proposed privacy statutes and rules:
 2-6                 (1)  benefit individuals;
 2-7                 (2)  impose financial, efficiency, or lost opportunity
 2-8     costs on governmental entities or private businesses; and
 2-9                 (3)  benefit commerce or benefit governmental
2-10     effectiveness or efficiency by creating an environment in which
2-11     individuals are more likely to willingly divulge information about
2-12     themselves.
2-13           (b)  The task force shall identify and analyze other existing
2-14     and proposed statutes and rules of this state, other states, and
2-15     the federal government with respect to the manner in which the
2-16     statutes and rules affect individual privacy.  In performing an
2-17     analysis under this subsection, the task force shall address the
2-18     extent to which existing or proposed statutes and rules that affect
2-19     individual privacy:
2-20                 (1)  impose burdens on individuals, adversely affect
2-21     individuals' lives, or contravene commonly held expectations of
2-22     individual privacy;
2-23                 (2)  benefit governmental entities or private
2-24     businesses with respect to increased revenues or financial gain,
2-25     increased efficiency, or increased opportunities; and
2-26                 (3)  affect commerce or affect governmental
2-27     effectiveness or efficiency by creating an environment in which
2-28     individuals become less likely to willingly divulge information
2-29     about themselves.
2-30           (c)  The office of the attorney general shall coordinate with
2-31     and assist the task force in performing legal analyses under this
2-32     section.
2-33           SECTION 4.  STUDY REGARDING CONSENT TO DISCLOSURE.  (a)  In
2-34     this section, "personal information" means information about an
2-35     individual such as:
2-36                 (1)  the individual's address, telephone number, social
2-37     security number, date of birth, physical characteristics, and
2-38     similar information about the individual;
2-39                 (2)  information about an individual's marital status
2-40     or history, whether the individual has family members, and
2-41     information about the individual's family members; and
2-42                 (3)  personally identifiable information about the
2-43     individual's health or health history, finances or financial
2-44     history, and consumer history.
2-45           (b)  The task force shall conduct a study regarding the
2-46     advantages, disadvantages, and feasibility of requiring by law in
2-47     various circumstances that certain personal information may be
2-48     released by a governmental entity or a private business only with
2-49     the prior informed consent of the individual.
2-50           SECTION 5.  REPORT.  The task force shall report the results
2-51     of its study and its recommendations to the lieutenant governor and
2-52     the speaker of the house of representatives by not later than
2-53     November 1, 2002.  The task force shall include in its report its
2-54     conclusions regarding the advisability of enacting legislation with
2-55     respect to each of the topics that the task force studied.
2-56           SECTION 6.  EXPIRATION DATE.  The task force and advisory
2-57     committee are abolished and this Act expires September 1, 2003.
2-58           SECTION 7.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act takes effect
2-59     immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members
2-60     elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III,
2-61     Texas Constitution.  If this Act does not receive the vote
2-62     necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1,
2-63     2001.
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