H.B. 1886 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 1886 By: Zedler Public Health Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In 1991, , the 72nd Texas Legislature created the registration of code enforcement officers. The program became operational on September 1, 1991. The law specifies that fees shall not exceed $50 for each fee. The law, Chapter 1952, Occupations Code, provides title protection for a "Code Enforcement Officer." Currently, there are 1600 registered code enforcement officers in Texas. Rider 7, Article 2, General Appropriations Act, 77th Legislature, expresses the intent of the legislature that fee-funded programs to generate sufficient revenue to cover their operating costs. For the past five years, the code enforcement officers registration program generated sufficient revenues to cover its operating costs in only two of those years. The purpose of this bill is to remove the statutory cap on the fees charged to regulate code enforcement officers. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS Section 1952.052 is amended by deleting the "not to exceed $50 for each fee" and replacing this section with language allowing the Texas Board of Health to set reasonable fees to cover the costs of administering the program. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2003.