SRC-VRA S.B. 1744 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 1744
78R3306 AKH-DBy: Zaffirini
Health & Human Services
4/2/2003
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, there is no fee available to a municipality which may be
assessed for the preservation of records.  However, a county is allowed to
impose several fees for records management and preservation.  As proposed,
S.B. 1744 establishes a local records preservation and technology
enhancement fund supported by a surcharge on the issuance of birth and
death records for the preservation of permanent, historical, and archival
records. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

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

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 191.0045, Health and Safety Code, by amending
Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (h), as follows: 

 (d)  Makes conforming changes.

(h)  Authorizes a local registrar, in addition to other fees collected
under this section, to collect a fee not to exceed $1 for the preservation
of vital statistics records maintained by the registrar, including birth,
death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, and annulment records. Requires a
fee under this section to be collected by the registrar on the issuance of
a vital statistics record.  

SECTION 2.  Effective date:  September 1, 2003.