TO: | Honorable Joe Nixon, Chair, House Committee on Civil Practices |
FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
IN RE: | HB47 by Nixon (Relating to civil claims involving exposure to asbestos or other mineral dusts.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill would amend the Civil Practice and Remedies Code relating to civil claims involving exposure to asbestos or other mineral dusts. The bill would require the Supreme Court of Texas to adopt rules requiring trial courts to maintain an inactive docket for mineral dust or asbestos-related claims. The bill provides the Supreme Court with rule guidelines for the following: claims eligible for the inactive docket; claims limitation periods; discovery and other court orders; removal of claims from the inactive docket to the active docket; inactive docket information; and claimant bankruptcy trusts. To the extent the Supreme Court may incur additional costs adopting new rules relating to mineral dust or asbestos-related claims, the costs are not anticipated to be significant.
The bill would take effect immediately if the bill receives the vote of two-thirds the members of each house. Otherwise, the bill would take effect November 1, 2003. The bill would apply to claims filed after the bill's effective date and to claims pending on the effective date in which the trial, a new trial, or a retrial begins on or after the effective date.
Source Agencies: | 307 Secretary of State, 503 Board of Medical Examiners
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LBB Staff: | JK, RR, VDS, TB
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