78R3488 SMJ-F

By:  Campbell                                                     H.B. No. 633



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the application of the sales tax to certain 
clothes-washing machines.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended 
by adding Section 151.356 to read as follows:
	Sec. 151.356.  CERTAIN CLOTHES-WASHING MACHINES.  (a)  In 
this section, "water consumption factor" has the meaning assigned 
by 10 C.F.R. Part 430, Subpart B, Appendix J, as that appendix 
existed on September 1, 2002.
	(b)  This section applies to only a residential or commercial 
clothes-washing machine with a capacity of:
		(1)  less than 3.5 cubic feet, if it is a front-loading 
machine; or  
		(2)  more than 1.6 cubic feet but less than 3.5 cubic 
feet, if it is a top-loading machine.
	(c)  The sale of a clothes-washing machine is exempted from 
the taxes imposed by this chapter if the machine has a water 
consumption factor of 9.5 or less and meets standards for 
efficiency adopted by the comptroller.
	(d)  The comptroller shall adopt efficiency standards for a 
clothes-washing machine under this section in cooperation with the 
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.  The standards must:
		(1)  promote the efficient use of water by the machine; 
and          
		(2)  incorporate, to the extent appropriate and 
practical, standards for clothes-washing machines established by 
the United States Department of Energy and the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency.
	(e)  This section expires December 31, 2006.                            
	SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect October 1, 2003.                        
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act does not affect taxes 
imposed before the effective date of this Act, and the law in effect 
before the effective date of this Act is continued in effect for the 
purposes of the liability for and collection of those taxes.