SRC-VRA H.B. 1813 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   H.B. 1813
78R9663 YDB-DBy: McReynolds (Staples)
State Affairs
5/14/2003
Engrossed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, in order to conduct a raffle, an organization must be
qualified as nonprofit  and abide by specified restrictions on sales.  The
Occupations Code, which governs raffles, neglects to require authorized
organizations to set a date to conduct the raffle and award the prize or
prizes.  

H.B. 1813 requires that raffles be conducted on a date certain that is
printed on the tickets.  If the qualified organization is unable to award
a prize or prizes on the printed date, it is given an additional 30 days
in which to choose the winning ticket(s) and award the prize(s).  After
the 30 day extension, the organization must refund or offer to refund the
amount paid by each person who purchased a ticket. 


RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to
a state officer, department, agency, or institution. 


SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 2002.052, Occupations Code, by adding
Subsections (d), (e), and (f), as follows: 

(d)  Requires a qualified organization, before selling or offering to sell
tickets for a raffle, to set a date on which the organization will award
the prize or prizes in a raffle. Requires the organization to award the
prize or prizes on that date unless the organization becomes unable to
award the prize or prizes on that date. 
 
(e)  Authorizes a qualified organization that is unable to award a prize
or prizes on the date set under Subsection (d) to set another date not
later than 30 days from the date originally set on which the organization
will award the prize or prizes. 
 
(f)  Requires the organization, if the prize or prizes are not awarded
within the 30 days as required by Subsection (e), to refund or offer to
refund the amount paid by each person who purchased a ticket for the
raffle. 
 
SECTION 2.  Amends Section 2002.055, Occupations Code, to add a new
Subdivision (5) requiring the date on which the raffle prize or prizes
will be awarded to be printed on each raffle ticket sold or offered for
sale. 
    
SECTION 3.Effective date:  September 1, 2003.
  Makes application of this Act prospective.